Bang the Drum

Can you imagine 20,000 drummers filling the streets and banging away on their drums for an entire week? That’ll be the case in Hellín, a small town in the province of Albacete, Spain. Starting this Sunday, from Apr 17th until Easter Sunday, April 24th, an amazing cacophony of sound will ring out in the streets. Called the Tamborada (drum-playing), it’s the most important fiesta on the town’s calendar and is the pinnacle of the Easter celebration.

The week long drum playing will hit a high point at midnight on Maundy Thursday, which will lead into Good Friday where the silence and meditation of the Santo Entierro procession somehow traditionally coexists with all the musical exuberance of the Tamborada. To cap off the week, hundreds of doves will be released into the sky, and then the drummers, wearing black tunics with a red neckerchief or a black hood, will take to the streets for one last session of drum-playing from Holy Saturday night to Easter Sunday afternoon.

It’s one of those incredible events you have to experience at least once in your life, like Mardi Gras in New Orleans or the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona. Have you ever been or is it on your Bucket List?

If you can’t make it to Spain next week, there are multiple videos on YouTube that’ll give you a taste of Tamborada. These aren’t for the faint of heart though, so you might want to fortify yourself with a glass of bold red wine first!

Tags: Easter, Spain, Spanish Wine, Tamborada