During the day of December 21st, Saint Thomas’ Day, a wide range of activities will take place that will begin at 10:00 a.m. and end at 8:00 p.m.
In addition to its festive and gastronomic aspect, Saint Thomas’ Day arises from a very interesting history. It begins in the 19th century when people from the caserío (tipycal Basque rural house) traveled to San Sebastián on the day of Saint Thomas to pay the rents to the tenants of the farms they cultivated. In addition to the rent money, the baserritarras (caserío workers) brought products from the village that were not easily found in the city and in exchange, they supplied themselves with products that they did not have in the countryside. From these exchanges arose the need to start celebrating a fair known today as Santo Tomás. Although the need for the fair ceased to be essential with the improvement of transportation, the tradition has continued to this day.
https://www.donostiakultura.eus/es/fiestas/tablon/feria-santo-tomas
