La Tamborrada San Sebastian Festival San Sebastian Spain

It cannot be determined with historic rigour in which year the first Tamborrada went out into the San Sebastian streets. Some people attribute its origin to the drumbeat made on buckets by maids and their companions, artisans and soldiers, while waiting for their turn before one of the three fountains that around 1836 supplied San Sebastian with water. It seems to be more correct that the Tamborrada was one of the groups of the San Sebastian Carnival. There were several before, e.g. the Valencian blind people Masquerade and the gardeners group in 1817 and the year after the Coppersmith group and the Tamborrada. The latter probably in 1836 at the height of a Carlist war.
Since then, the tradition of celebrating the patron saint's feast by going along the streets in the early morning to the sound of a "zortziko" march by the musician Santesteban took shape.

At that time the march was played only with barrels but later loud drums were added. The participants, who wore at first fancy dresses, were later put into uniform. Every year, at three thirty in the morning, they came out of the "Fraternal" Society's premises, located by the way up to the Castle, beating on the drums the "Sheshenarena", since Sarriegui did not write San Sebastian March until 1860. They went tireless along the streets until eight o'clock, stopping at that time at the corner of "Iñigo" and "Narrica" street, where they waited for the coming of the "sokamuturra".

A period of fiesta started with the Tamborrada, finishing on Carnival Tuesday with the Burial of the Sardine.
The "Fraternal" Society was followed by the "Unión Artesana". The parade started at five in the morning, leaded by three mounted heralds, the drummers wearing 1800 militiaman uniforms and beating drums and barrels to the sound of the marches played by a band that closed the procession. Then "Euskal Billera" Society joined in and the number of tamborradas increased in all San Sebastian quarters afterwards.

The fiesta starts on the 20th of January at 00.00 hours when the flag is raised by the "Gaztelubide" Tamborrada in the former Town Hall, now town library, located in the "Constitución" Square. For 24 hours the town is a fiesta of drums and barrels, the hymns by Sarriegui can be heard in all quarters. At 24.00 hours the "Unión Artesana" Tamborrada is in charge of hauling down the flag and finishing the fiesta.

The fiesta has been growing and the increasing number of participating adults tamborradas is an obvious fact: in 1967, 10 tamborradas, in 1992, 54 tamborradas and in 2000, 82 tamborradas. They march over all the town quarters, on that day there is anytime a tamborrada beating its drums and barrels somewhere. Years ago all tamborradas were formed by men but today, even though many of them are still strictly just for men due to the statutes of their societies, there are also mixed and women tamborradas. The Golden Drums, Medals for Civic Merit and the prizes corresponding to the International Firework Contest are given on this day.

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