Caldereros

They come from Hungary to announce the Carnival

The calderero krewes, who commemorate the arrival of travelling people to the city and announce the Carnival (and the inudeak eta artzainak parade), take to the streets of San Sebastián normally in the evening of the first Saturday in February or of the first Saturday after Candlemas (this year February 3rd).

The traditional caldereros krewe makes its way round the Old Town with 19 'tribes’ who bang their pots and pans to the rhythm of the melodies written by Raimundo Sarriegui; they are accompanied by the Queen, the Ladies-in-waiting, the Director and his assistants, a bear, bear cub and handler.

caldererosPhotos: Donostia Kultura

In this celebration, which has a long tradition in San Sebastian, numerous troupes pass through the streets of the city, filling them with the clatter of pans and hammers,while hundreds of voices sing the melodies of the talented Raimundo Sarriegi.

Although they had occasionally been found in the Carnivals held in the first half of the 19th century, the original Caldereros Krewe paraded in San Sebastián on the morning of February 2nd 1884, to celebrate the Catholic festivity of Candlemas. The event disappeared in 1912 under Pope Pius X. The Calderero krewes were reinstated by the Gaztelupe gastronomic society in 1924, followed by Gaztelubide in 1942.

caldereros postberria2Photos: Donostia Kultura


 

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