24 hours of drums in San Sebastian

With a reputation of being one of the gourmet centres of northern Spain, the trendy city of San Sebastian genuinely marches to the beat of its own drum.

Could you stand the noise?

That’s because on January 20 each year, its Patron Saints Day, the people of the city (also known in the Basque language as Donostia) celebrates La Tamborrada where up to 15,000 locals gather together and beat drums all day and night.

Local clubs (in many ways like the Catholic Brotherhoods) vie with each other to offer the most spectacular event as they march through the city dressed in traditional Basque costumes, chefs outfits or 19^th century military uniforms.

A plausible explanation

Like most events of this type, the origin is forgotten but one of the most plausible reasons is that La Tamborrada was introduced at the start of the 19^th Century during the Peninsula War when Napoleon’s troops entered the city and women banged buckets in derision as they marched by.

The drumming and parades start at midnight in the Plaza de la Constitución with the izada (flag) of the city being raised and the first group of drummers  play the Marcha de San Sebastián as a signal to the other groups that they can start and that’s it for the next 24 hours.

At noon on January 20, children from various schools, also dressed to impress and with their own special ‘tamborrada infantil’ set off en route for the City Hall where they converge and add to the cacophony of sound.

Then at midnight the march is played again, the flag is lowered and that’s the end of La Tamborrada for another year, although there may be a few throats that are dry and need to be ‘watered’!

During the event, the person or organisation considered to have done he most to promote San Sebastian is awarded the Tambor de Oro (Golden Drum).

Women can now take part

Even though, it may have been women who started the drumming, it wasn’t until 1980 that they were allowed to participate in the parades.

Yet another of the many interesting and quirky celebrations that take place throughout the year in Spain.