Drum roll, por favor! Take your ear plugs to San Sebastian in January, because its time once again for the infamous and deafening La Tamborrada. Prepare yourself to see and hear this sleepy resort town come alive with the sound of thousands of beating drums--all day and all night for over 24 hours?
Spain is known for hosting some exceptionally wild fiestas, but nothing can prepare you for the high-decibel madness of La Tamborrada. It's a short but intense festival and it works like this: from midnight to midnight companies of perfectly uniformed marchers parade through the streets of San Sebastian playing drums and barrels in honor of their patron saint, the Donostia of San Sebastian. Talk about "loud as hell"!
The activity begins on the evening of January 19th at the Plaza de la Constitution and winds through all barrios of the old city for the next 24 hours (there will be a brief break in the morning around dawn--just enough time to throw back a brandy and some churros). The different corps of marchers represent the many gastronomic societies in San Sebastian, and the competition is fierce.
As with many Spanish traditions, the origin of La Tamborrada is a bit twisted. It appears as though in 1720 a baker was filling water barrels from a fountain near the Iglesia de San Vicente. While filling the barrels he began to sing, and a group of young girls passing by started banging on the barrels as accompaniment. A crowd started to gather and this impromptu jam session evolved into the spectacle you see today.
Some years later the composer Raimundo Sarriegui scored the "March of San Sebastian," a series of drum compositions that is still played every year during La Tamborrada. At one point, the townspeople suggested adding words to the composition, but Sarriegui argued that there was no way to improve the sounds of the drums and barrels.
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