Tamborrada
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Every year on 20 January (the feast of Saint Sebastian), the people of the city of San Sebastián, (Spain) celebrate a festival known as the "Tamborrada". At midnight, in the Konstituzio Plaza in the "Alde Zaharra/Parte Vieja" (Old Part), the mayor raises the flag of San Sebastián. For 24 hours, day and night, the entire city is awash with the sound of drums. The adults, dressed as cooks and soldiers, march in different companies across various parts of the city with different schedules. The celebration finishes at midnight when the city flag is lowered at different spots, while the main meeting point remains the Konstituzio Plaza.
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[edit] Origin and development
From the end of 18th century running up to the 2nd Carlist War, besides being a military stronghold surrounded by walls, the city was subject to several military actions, sieges and damage, sometimes with dire consequences (especially in 1813), where international powers (Spain, France, Great Britain, Portugal...) played a decisive role. The origin of this custom is said to be that locals mocked the marching soldiers stationed in the city by aping their daily procession from the San Telmo headquarters to the Main Gate at the city walls ("Puerta de Tierra"), using for the purpose buckets and hardware from the water-pump. The funny gang in carnival mood may have developed into a youth music group - the Carnival of Donostia started at this point on the 20th of January, followed by the Caldereros at the beginning of February.[1]
The group also heralded at dawn the ox-running event to be held that day. The outfit of the march-goers wasn't yet uniform, with the members of the group dressing up as they fancied.[2] The procession further developed when Vicente "Txiki" Buenechea donated barrels to be used as drums. Furthermore, in 1881 unused military outfit of the past wars was discovered in the San Telmo headquarters, with the gear being donated to the council, which in turn gave it away to the Union Artesana club so they could be used in the Tamborrada. Other clubs joined the Union Artesana in following years, causing the initially peculiar celebration to spread.[3]
A more far-fetched story goes that in 1720 a baker was getting water from a fountain during a drought. Out of nowhere he began to sing, and when he did, a group of local girls behind him started pounding on their water basins to accompany him. To his glee, the water kept on flowing. Happy, they kept on drumming. Soon a crowd gathered. Time passed, and the next thing anyone knew it's been two hundred years, and the music hasn't stopped.
[edit] Music
In 1861 local musician Raimundo Sarriegui composed and released all the iconic marches, like the "March of San Sebastian",[4] which caught on and became popular. Other marches of his creation include "Erretreta", "Tatiago", "Diana" and "Iriyarena". Other tunes have been added nowadays. The traditional lyrics sung along in the marches were fashioned by the local writer Serafin Baroja.
[edit] Current celebration
Adults usually have dinner in sociedades gastronómicas ("gourmet clubs"), which provide elements of the procession, and which traditionally admitted only males. Nowadays, even the strictest ones allow women on the "Noche de la Tamborrada". They eat sophisticated meals cooked by themselves, mostly composed of seafood (traditionally elver, now no longer served due to its exorbitant price) and drink the best wines.
After the dinner or the lunch, depending on the time the company is marching, the parade-goers take to the streets and are sometimes offered drinks at the pause between the tunes. Nowadays the Tamborrada is made up of mixed gender companies for the most part, while proportions may vary a lot from one to the other. For "Donostiarras" this is the most celebrated festival of the year.
After hearing drums all night, children wake up with a version of the Tamborrada for kids. Children dress traditionally as soldiers and march around the city. Children from all the schools of San Sebastián march that day. They have their specific costumes which usually represent a particular country (England, Germany, Romania, etc.)
[edit] References
- ^ Sada, Javier; Sada, Asier (1995). Historia de San Sebastián. Editorial Txertoa. pp. 107. ISBN 84-7148. Book in Spanish
- ^ Sada, Javier; Sada, Asier (1995). Historia de San Sebastián. Editorial Txertoa. pp. 107. ISBN 84-7148. Book in Spanish
- ^ Sada, Javier; Sada, Asier (1995). Historia de San Sebastián. Editorial Txertoa. pp. 110. ISBN 84-7148. Book in Spanish
- ^ Sada, Javier; Sada, Asier (1995). Historia de San Sebastián. Editorial Txertoa. pp. 110. ISBN 84-7148. Book in Spanish
[edit] External links
- Joobili.com - Related info and photos on La Tamborrada
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