La Tamborrada 2020

On Monday, January 20, we celebrated our third Tamborrada – San Sebastian Day – the city’s biggest annual event, a 24-hour drumming festival. It was another opportunity to become true Donostiarras, the Basque term for San Sebastian citizens. Our goal this year was to better understand why Tamborrada is so beloved and enthusiastically enjoyed by everyone.

This year was another banner year of participation: 151 drumming groups, composed of 19,004 adults – 600 more than last year. 93% of the groups are co-ed now, with a 57% to 43% split between men and women respectively. The children’s parade included 8,829 kids, which means a total of 27,833 individuals played a direct role in the party. The majority play a form of wood water-barrel drum or single snare drum, while others play wind instruments and some carry flags or themed decorations. This year one group celebrated its 150^th anniversary.

One interesting change that occurred this year was the transition from the Bella Easo, or “prettiest girl,” reining over the children’s parade to a female “citizen” representative instead. A modern update from the beauty pageant concept to a representation of female power. A meaningful and progressive change, in my opinion. We caught the tail end of the kids’ parade, including the float with the brand-new character (she's at the rear of the float):

 

From there we headed to Constitution Plaza to see my yoga teacher’s group perform, passing several other groups along the way. We saw her group last year and this year’s performance was the same as we remembered. At this point we were wondering, why does this city love hearing the same songs over and over and over (it seems like there are only 3, like the USC marching band’s repertoire, although we’re told there are 12-15 songs)? Every year it’s the same thing. And this year was cold, with a high of 40 degrees, although not rainy. We just don’t get it.

We returned home for a break and to warm up before meeting friends for dinner at 9 p.m. We were happy to see Carlos and Ploy, both because they are fun to be with and because we could ask Carlos questions. Although Carlos was born in Madrid, he moved to San Sebastian when he was three. He explained how Tamborrada runs in the blood of Donostiarras, who are raised on it, look forward to it every year, and never get tired of it. We agreed, along with Ploy, who is from Thailand, that as foreigners we will never have the same love for this tradition as the locals. While for us it’s entertaining, for the locals it is exhilarating. We had a lovely meal and were able to watch and hear the ongoing action from the 2nd floor dining room.

 It was 11:45 p.m. when we left the restaurant, so we headed back to Constitution Plaza for the Arriada – the closing ceremony that includes the lowering of the city flag to end the festival at midnight. (Two years ago, we went to the Izada, the raising of the flag at midnight to start it.) One last chance to hear the same songs again. The square becomes quite a festive scene as the celebration ends. It was fun, but not something we will likely repeat in the coming years. And with our travel plans for the end of 2020 and beginning of 2021 we will miss the next Tamborrada.

One interesting final note. In the local paper there was an article identifying the number of places celebrating Tamborrada at a distance, both within Spain and outside of it. The Basque diaspora is vast. The article listed Mexico, Caracas, Shanghai, and . . . Atlanta! So, if you ever see a listing for a Tamborrada celebration on January 20, check it out for yourself!

Hasta pronto,

Shana & Jeff