Pot-banging

A cacerolazo ( or ), cacerolada (, ) or casserole is a form of popular

protest A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one. Protests can be thought of as acts of coopera ...

which consists of a group of people making noise by banging pots, pans, and other utensils in order to call for attention. The first documented protests of this style occurred in France in the 1830s, at the beginning of the July Monarchy, by opponents of the regime of

Louis Philippe I Louis Philippe (6 October 1773 – 26 August 1850) was King of the French from 1830 to 1848, and the penultimate monarch of France. As Louis Philippe, Duke of Chartres, he distinguished himself commanding troops during the Revolutionary Wa ...

of France. According to the historian Emmanuel Fureix, the protesters took from the tradition of the

charivari Charivari (, , , alternatively spelled shivaree or chivaree and also called a skimmington) was a European and North American folk custom in which a mock parade was staged through a community accompanied by a discordant mock serenade. Since the cro ...

the use of noise to express disapproval, and beat saucepans to make noise against government politicians. This way of showing discontent became popular in 1832, taking place mainly at night and sometimes with the participation of thousands of people. More than a century later, in 1961, "the nights of the pots" were held in

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, in the framework of the

Algerian War of Independence The Algerian War, also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence,( ar, الثورة الجزائرية '; '' ber, Tagrawla Tadzayrit''; french: Guerre d'Algérie or ') and sometimes in Algeria as the War of 1 November ...

. They were thunderous displays of noise in cities of the territory, carried out with homemade pots, whistles, horns and the cry of "French Algeria". In the following decades, this type of protest was limited almost exclusively to South America, with Chile being the first country in the region to register them. Subsequently, it has also been seen in Spain—where it is called ''cacerolada'' () or, in Catalan, ''cassolada'')—and in other countries, like the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...<