Hellín: Twenty Thousand Drums
Castilla-La Mancha, Spain
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Tamborada de Hellín
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275
XP
+100 Spain
= 375 total
1 day
Hellín: Twenty Thousand Drums
275 + 100 XP
For several days over Easter the town of Hellín beats drums, continuously, in the street, in enormous numbers — around twenty-five thousand drummers, individually and in peñas, drumming through the night and into the following day until their hands bleed, which is not a metaphor. One of the set pieces is the climb to the Calvario in the first hours of Good Friday. It is one of a cluster of Spanish Holy Week drum towns, and it is on the UNESCO intangible heritage list as part of the Tamboradas ritual drum-playing inscription of 2018. Standing inside it is physically overwhelming in a way that no recording conveys.
Required Activities
1
of 5
Be in the street for a tamborada and work out what twenty-five thousand drums at once actually does to you
2
of 5
Find out what the black smock and red neckerchief mean and where the costume comes from
3
of 5
Be there for the climb to the Calvario in the first hours of Good Friday, which is the set piece
4
of 5
Find out what UNESCO inscribed in 2018, and that Tobarra, Moratalla and Mula do the same thing
5
of 5
Borrow or hire a drum and join in, which is the point — this is not a spectator event
Be in the street for a tamborada and work out what twenty-five thousand drums at once actually does to you
Find out what the black smock and red neckerchief mean and where the costume comes from
Be there for the climb to the Calvario in the first hours of Good Friday, which is the set piece
Find out what UNESCO inscribed in 2018, and that Tobarra, Moratalla and Mula do the same thing
Borrow or hire a drum and join in, which is the point — this is not a spectator event
Before you go
The drumming goes on for several days and nights over Easter.
Ear protection is genuinely advisable. The town fills completely over Easter — book months ahead.
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About Castilla-La Mancha
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Challenge Location
XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
275 XP
Spain country bonus
+100 XP
Potential total
375 XP
Country bonus earned on completion of your first challenge in Spain.
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