San Sebastián Tamborrada
January 20 · Level 9 · #322 of 2238
San Sebastián celebrates its patron saint with the Tamborrada, a city festival powered by drums. For twenty-four hours, marching groups fill the streets with music, with children taking part alongside adult ensembles.
How it is celebrated: groups dressed as soldiers and cooks parade with drums and barrels. A midnight flag-raising opens the festivities, and lowering the city flag twenty-four hours later brings them to a close. Children have their own parade.
The cooks carry more than a costume joke: wooden barrels serve as percussion instruments, giving the festival a sound beyond conventional drums.