After 44 consecutive years (excluding the Covid year), the company of the Scottish men and women will not march in this year's traditional San Juan eve drum parade on June 23rd. This edition will not feature the thunder of their drums or the shouts of 'gora Eskozia'. 'This is not a break due to a lack of desire, but rather due to demotivation, all stemming from a series of meetings and ideas that took place after the summer of 2025 regarding a request made by the Scottish group,' they stated.
In a statement released today, the Scottish group points out that, in their view, the program for June 23rd 'is saturated, which makes it difficult to carry out certain events in terms of organization, participation from the townspeople, and, of course, from the spectators.' Their proposal, 'for some time now,' is to move the drum parade to June 24th.
It is well known that the festive program on June 23rd concentrates a high number of events that occur during the afternoon and evening: Popular acts like the Errementari Dantza parade and the lighting of the San Juan bonfire practically overlap with the drum parade's departure at 11:00 AM.
As the Scottish group notes, several drum parade companies have declared themselves in favor of changing the dates 'after conducting internal consultations.' However, members of other companies 'have not been aware of this new proposal,' the Scottish group assures. In any case, they add, 'several external and internal agents have also shown their acceptance of this new proposal,' and in their opinion, it 'could make the drum parade more accessible to new participants, and more importantly, ensure its continuity and make it attractive to new generations.'
But unfortunately, 'we have not been able to steer other viewpoints towards our proposal,' admit the Scottish group, posing the question: 'Could we try it for a year, couldn't we?'
The Scottish group confesses to being 'tired and resigned, and, no, this year we will not be in Zaldibar. Let's see if we meet in 2027.'
