Yesterday was a very exciting day because I experienced my first Basque fiesta! And the unique thing about this festival is that it is only celebrated in San Sebastian. La Tamborrada is a twenty-four hour holiday, starting at midnight on the nineteenth of January and continuing until midnight on the twentieth.
The fiesta consists of all the sociedades gastronomicas of San Sebastian dressing up as either cooks or soldiers. The sociedades used to be exclusive men’s clubs that would get together to cook a meal and eat together. Nowadays most of them are open to women as well.
To anyone observing this festival without knowing about the history, you would be asking yourself, why are some people dressed as soldiers and some dressed as cooks? The reason everyone is dressed this way is said to be because of the soldiers who were occupying San Sebastian in the early nineteenth century. The locals didn’t like the soldiers living in their city, so they would bang on their water barrels to mock the soldiers who would beat their drums and march through Donostia.
The celebration starts in la Plaza de la Constitucion with the raising of the flag. A marching band plays “The March of San Sebastian” and the plaza is packed with people singing along. I was one of those individuals packed in the plaza and I have to say that I have never witnessed anything quite like this festival. People were jumping to the drumbeat and running as a crowd up to the stage and back. The balconies surrounding the plaza were also full and I’m sure they had an awesome view. I tried to sing along in Basque but this proved to be quite difficult for me.
After the opening ceremony, different sociedads march through the streets of Donostia, banging on drums and barrels, playing traditional Basque songs. I enjoyed my night in la Parte Vieja, where most of the partying takes place. It was amazing to see how many people participate in this fiesta.
Eventually, I had to go to bed because I’m not one to stay awake for twenty-four hours like some of my friends were willing to do. The next day, there was a children’s parade that took place, however, I didn’t make it to see it. I did see a lot of groups marching through the streets, though. When I walked out the door of my apartment in Gros, there was a band performing right on my street. It was cute to watch the children who would tag along at the end of the drum line and bang their barrels in time with the songs.
That day, two of my friends from Bilbao came to visit and see the festival. It was fun to be able to explain to them the history of la Tamborrada and show them around la Parte Vieja. We all gathered in la Plaza de la Constitucion again to see the lowering of the flag and to try to sing along with the music. It was an experience that I will never forget.
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