In San Sebastian many festivals and popular festivities are celebrated throughout the year. It is a city with many popular traditions that are worth getting to know.
Here are some of the best known:
San Sebastian film festival is one of the best-regarded around the world. Celebrities coming from all over the globe attend the event every year, as it has become the most important of its kind celebrated in Spain. The festival took place for the first time on the 21st of September in 1953 and, ever since,…
San Sebastian Jazz Festival is one of the most renowned events of its kind in Spain and Europe. It was first celebrated around 1966 and, ever since, it takes place in the month of July every year. Worldwide acclaimed and consummate artists are always included in the festival line-up, something that turns the Donosti event…
The San Sebastian Tamborrada takes place on the 20th of January. It is a major festivity when both young people and adults go out to the streets in order to celebrate. History of Tamborrada We cannot know for certain where the custom of playing the popular tamborrada comes from, but we are confident that it…
San Sebastian’s Big Week (Semana Grande) takes place every summer and it lasts seven days, always including the 15th of August among its dates and both starting and coming to an end on a Saturday. The Virgin festivity, celebrated on the 15th, is the highlight of the festival, even though the big party begins on…
Santo Tomas (Spanish for Saint Thomas) festivity is one of the most important in San Sebastian. Every 21st of December, the people of San Sebastian celebrate this festival and the city streets are filled with stalls where txistorra is sold. But you will not only find txistorra stalls, there are others which sell Talos (corn…
The Caldereros -Spanish for boilermakers- party originated on the 2nd of February in 1884, a year when the Hungarian carnival group of Caldereros paraded for the first time in San Sebastian. There is some evidence of carnival records in the 19th century, but it was not until the above-mentioned date that tradition was made official…
The “Iñudes and Artzaiak” festival is another typical San Sebastian celebration. It may have a less numerous audience than others like the Tamborrada but we can say it is equally traditional. This festivity takes place the day after the Caldereros festival, and it is entirely carnival-themed. All participants dress up as shepherds, nursemaids, mayors and…