Tamborrada of Donostia (in Basque Donostiako Danborrada) is a celebratory drum festival held every year on January 20 in the city of San Sebastián, Spain. At midnight, in the Konstituzio Plaza in the "Alde Zaharra/Parte Vieja" (Old Town), the mayor raises the flag of San Sebastián. The festival lasts for 24 hours. Participants, dressed as cooks and soldiers, march in companies across the city. The celebration ends at midnight, when people congregate at the Konstituzio Plaza and the city flag is simultaneously lowered at various locations. Origin and development During the 19th century, as a walled military stronghold, the city of San Sebastián was subject to heavy property damage due to military activity, sometimes with dire consequences. This was especially true during the Siege of San Sebastián (1813), in which international powers (Spain, France, Great Britain, and Portugal) were involved. The war caused between 7,000 and 50,000 casualties. The festival is said to originate from the 1830s custom of locals using buckets and hardware from the water pump to mock the soldiers stationed in the city by aping their daily procession from the San Telmo headquarters to the Main Gate at the city walls (). The comic procession in carnival mood may have developed into a prelude for the Carnival of Donostia, which started on the 20th of January, followed by the at the beginning of February. In the early days, the procession also heralded the ox run event, held on the same day. At this stage, the members of the procession dressed in everyday clothes, as they had not adopted uniforms yet. The procession further developed when local tradesman Vicente "Txiki" Buenechea donated barrels to be used as drums. In 1881, unused military outfits were discovered in the San Telmo headquarters. These were donated to the council, which in turn gave them to the club (the oldest in existence) for use in the Tamborrada. By 1886, barrels were added to the formations in attendance. Other ("gourmet clubs") joined the Union Artesana in following years, thus expanding the festival attendance. According to an urban legend, a baker was fetching water from a fountain during a drought in San Sebastián in 1720. As he began to sing, local women around him started pounding on their water basins to accompany him. To his surprise, the water kept on flowing and they kept on drumming with glee. Soon a crowd gathered. As the