Tourist and holiday information for Spain including concerts, gigs & shows. Hellín, AlbaceteTamborada (drum-playing)5th to 12th April 2009 20,000 drummers banging away in a cacophony of sound for a week at Easter. This the Tamborada in
Hellín, Albacete and its most important annual event.
Midnight on Maundy Thursday sees the most important drum-playing moment of the whole celebration. On Good Friday night the Santo Entierro procession takes place, marked by silence and meditation, in clear contrast to the tremendous noise of the drums. In this procession you can see the wooden Cristo Yacente statue, by sculptor Mariano Benlliure, considered one of the finest works of 20th century sculpture. One last session of drum-playing, from Holy Saturday night to Sunday evening, marks the end of Hellín’s Easter week celebrations, after hundreds of doves are released into the sky.
Easter week is one of the most heartfelt and deep-rooted fiestas celebrated in Spain. This commemoration has centuries of history and tradition, remembering the passion and death of Jesus Christ. The streets of the majority of Spain's cities, towns and villages become the stage for religious fervour and devotion, combining grief and meditation in memory of Christ's death. Music, art and colour come together in magical processions - solemn parades in which crowds of people accompany religious images on their route through the streets.
Not for the faint hearted, The 'Tamborada’ of Hellín, is a very noisy event and is one of the most famous and well-known celebrations in the province of Albacete, where adults and children take to the streets of the town, their number exceeding 20,000 drummers, wearing black tunics with a red neckerchief or a black hood.
It was declared a Festivity of Regional Interest for Tourists on 10 January 1985, and on 3 February 2005 the same distinction was granted to all of the celebrations of its Easter Week.The first drumming session takes place on the night of the Friday before Palm Sunday, when they celebrate the Via Crucis of the Torches. As a preparation and in order to warm up the drums, an increasing number of drummers head towards the Calvary without their black tunics, in a pilgrimage that lasts until the wee hours of the following day.
The Wednesday right before Holy Thursday , at three pm, begins the second big drumming session. All the people flock to the streets, wearing their tunics and carrying their drums and, in groups of friends, they walk through the streets of town until 11 pm, which marks the beginning of the procession of the Oración del Huerto [Prayer in the Grove].
It is probably on the night of Holy Thursday when they celebrate the most important drumming session of the Easter Week. At 12 midnight, after the end of the Procession of Silence, groups of drummers take to the streets, breaking the silence with a huge uproar that lasts until the afternoon of the following day.
Around 20,000 drummers go along the streets of the town waiting for the sunrise, which signals the beginning of a tradition that is repeated year after year: the walk up to Calvary. With the first rays of daylight, after several hours of drumming, the drummers embark on the walk up to Calvary, where they wait until shortly before the start o the procession to start walking down to the 'Rabal’, finishing at around three pm.
The fourth and last drumming session is celebrated during the night of Easter Saturday, lasting until three pm on Easter Sunday. The drums are played all night long while awaiting the celebration of the 'Encuentro’ [Meeting] on Easter Sunday morning. During the 'Encuentro’ the drums are present on the fairgrounds esplanade, joining with the applause of the public attending and the lighting of a string of fireworks, right when the Dolorosa and Jesus Resurrected meet.
The drummers then embark on the walk up to the Plaza de la Iglesia, where the last drumming event takes place. The farewell to Drums consists of a release of doves from within a huge drum, with thousands of drummers to be heard in the background, thus ending the Easter Week 'tamboradas’.
Dates
From the Friday before Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday.
http://www.visitclm.com/arte-cultura/fiestas/hellin/tamborada-and-easter-week-of-hellin/
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