Tag Archives: donostia

Basque Fact of the Week: On January 20, Donostia Celebrates my Birthday… I mean, La Tamborrada

La Tamborrada is a 24-hour festival taking place every January 20, the feast day of the city’s patron Saint Sebastian, in Donostia. Over 100 different bands dressed as soldiers and cooks march through the city throughout the 24 hours of the day, starting at midnight.

Basque Folktales, Lauburus in the Yucatan, Cultural Capital of Europe

In Basque circles, Alan King is perhaps best known for his The Basque Language: A Practical Introduction. Beyond his interests in Euskara, he also studies languages such as Nawat and Lenca, two indigenous languages in the Americas. On his personal website, he has begun posting translations of Basque folktales. As part of the Basque Story […]

Online Basque Art and Gifts

Here are a couple of links to online Basque artists, both of which specialize in traditional art. If you are looking for something special for that old friend you’re going to see at Jaialdi, these might be the places to start. Irrintzi specializes in wood, clay and steel, with items that highlight the Guggenheim Museum […]

Donostia’s La Tamborrada

Every year, the fine people of Donostia celebrate my birthday in the most magnificent way. Armies of people dressed as chefs and Napoleonic soldiers parade through the streets, pounding on drums and generally making merry. The fiesta begins on midnight of January 20 and ends precisely 24 hours later — literally an entire day dedicated […]

Keeping Euskara Alive and My Own Adventure in Learning Euskara

In 1991, I traveled, for the first time, to the Basque Country. Though my dad was born there, and my mom’s grandparents as well, we’d never made a family trek as it simply was beyond our resources. My dad himself only went back a handful of times during the first 30 years he was in […]

Some food and wine to get you through

I ran across a few articles dealing with food and wine in the Basque Country that I thought were particularly interesting. First, in this article at Financial Times, Paul Richardson describes his adventures in San Sebastián’s Old Town, the Parte Vieja. The interesting spin here is a so-called pintxos passport. A company, San Sebastián Food, […]

The destruction of San Sebastian, recreated via Twitter

Today is July 10, 1813. Donostia has been occupied by Napoleonic troops for 5 years. The Marquess of Wellington, commander of the allied troops, reaches Hernani. The British have already landed troops and weapons and ships have begun the blockage. The siege of Donostia begins. 200 hundred years ago today, the Siege of Donostia began, […]

iLike Bilbao… do you?

When I first visited the Basque Country, back in 1991, one of the things that was immediately very clear was the rivalry between Bilbao and Donostia. Donostia was the elegant city with the beautiful beaches. Bilbao was the industrial powerhouse that had suffered for that industry, with a dirty river and generally unappealing character. Since […]

January 20, La Tamborrada

January 20. The day that the entire populace of the city of Donostia-San Sebastian stop what they are doing and have a massive street party that lasts until dawn. Donostia, the most beautiful city that I’ve had the fortune and pleasure to visit. January 20, the day that the city of Donostia stops and celebrates […]