If staying in San Sebastian at this time, La Tamborrada would be hard to miss. The sound of massed drums fills the night air from midnight, as the first regiments of uniformed drummers strike up and march off, from the square in the centre of the city through the neighbourhoods of the old town. Rank after rank parades through the streets, each band drumming up a storm that does not abate. All day long and into the next night, the marchers march and the drums roll endlessly. Sleep is banished and high spirits are compulsory in this noisy celebration in honour of the city’s patron saint.