On January 20 the Tamborrada de Donostia takes place, a drums festival that is celebrated every year to commemorate the Day of San Sebastián. At midnight, in the Konstituzio Square in the Old Town, the mayor holds up the San Sebastian flag. On Saturday, a total of 17,822 adults -7-314 women and 10,508 men- will parade through the streets of San Sebastian to celebrate the patronal feast of the city, grouped into 143 drum companies, three of them newly incorporated. The festival lasts 24 hours. The participants, dressed as soldiers, march in companies throughout the city. The celebration ends at midnight, when everyone gathers in the Konstituzio Square and the city's flag is simultaneously lowered in several places.
The story began in 1836 as one of the comparsas of the Donostia carnival. After a short time it began to take as tradition to celebrate the patron traveling the streets of San Sebastian. At first, the participants were disguised, but later uniformed like the military that was in the city. The first uniforms used reproduced those of the Gipuzkoan battalions that intervened in the War of Independence and had a French style of military clothing. As the number of participants in the tamborrada was increased, other companies with other uniforms were admitted.
This year the party will begin on Friday at 2:30 pm and will last until Saturday night. We do not intend to miss a single detail. What about you?
The complete program here.
