San Sebastián's Tamborrada Festival, Spain

Every year the Tamborrada parade is celebrated on 20^th January which starts at 12am on 19th January, and continues throughout the next 24 hours at Plaza de la Constitución where the city flag is raised.

The Tamborrada drum parade is one of the most astonishing celebrations on San Sebastián Day. Participants at the parade, dressed as cooks and soldiers, March together in groups across the city. The celebration ends at midnight, when people flock together at the Konstituzio Plaza and the city flag is concurrently lowered at various locations. The festival is said to be originated from the 1830s custom followed by the locals using buckets and hardware from the water pump to mock out the soldiers stationed in the city by aping their daily procession from the San Telmo headquarters to the Main Gate at the city walls. During each morning, when the local women would go to collect water at the public fountains, the soldiers would parade through the streets banging their drums. This angered the locals, so many began to make fun of them by creating their own drums out of water barrels or pots and pans, and banging them with wooden spoons. Currently there are around 143 tamborradas (drum companies) who gather properly dressed up in battalion uniforms or cooks of different kinds such as reproductions of the ones worn by the Gipuzkoan battalions during the War of Independence here at Spain. At midnight, the companies start walking around the streets of San Sebastián, along with playing musical arts which were composed by Raimundo Sarrieri. Also during the parade, the local of city joins the companies playing their own drums and barrels and thereafter everything goes with the flow. This year, the number of People from San Sebastián who participate on San Sebastián Day were more than ever before. A total of 17,822 adults walked around the streets of San Sebastian on the occasion. It was also featured by Children who had an important role to play in the Tamborrada. That more than 8,000 artists of 49 different companies had participated on San Sebastián Day. Furthermore, this celebration started when the the council of San Sebastián gave the drums and uniforms which belonged to the Napoleonic troupes to gastronomic societies. A good way to celebrate this festivity could taste the most traditional dishes of San Sebastián gastronomy.

By: Anuja Arora

Content: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamborrada