Basques around the world

Dear Basques all around the world,

How is August going on? We guess many of you will be on holiday at the moment and we hope you are all enjoying yourselves wherever you are!

If you are in the Basque Country do not forget to visit Bilbao on Saturday 21st as the ‘Big week‘ or ‘Aste Nagusia‘ will be celebrated for 8 days. However, if you cannot visit Bilbao during those days, you still have the chance to visit London, as Marijaia will also be present in London.

Last month London Basque society celebrated the San Fermin festival and some months ago they also celebrated Herri Urrats with a picnic and festival. Now it is the time for ‘Aste Nagusia‘.

Or if you prefer you could visit the Basque town of Zarauz since it will be hosting Zinematik Surfing, a get together around surfing films. Surf, cinema and music will be the protagonists of the festival that will take place on August 27th and September 10th and 27th.

We have good news for Julia Roberts fans as she will receive Donostia Award 2010 at Zinemaldia. Julia Roberts, Javier Bardem, Richard Jenkins and director Ryan Marphy will present Eat Pray Love at the 58th San Sebastian Festival in Donostia-San Sebastian. The film will be presented in the Official Selection of the Festival, out-of-competition. The Velodrome will host the world release of the first Spanish digital 3D animated film, Holy Night!, in the shape of the directorial debut by Juan Galiñanes.

And to finish with,  enjoy these two photo galleries on Basque designs Kukuxumusu and Kiribiltxo.

Agur!

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Kaixo lagunak!

Zer moduz?

The Symphony Orchestra of the Mariinsky Theatre opens the 71st edition of Donostia Musical Fortnight. The festival will be held from Saturday, August 7th to Friday, September 3rd.

Basque sailor Unai Basurko will begin a sailing expedition to the North Cape (Norway) this Saturday, August 7th. The aim of the expedition is to develop educational materials about the environment for primary students.

The mayors of Vitoria and Bilbao have both expressed their satifaction with the decision to bring the Spanish Vuelta back to the Basque Country in 2011 after a 34 year absence.

To finish with, Basque group Ken Zazpi have begun recording their latest album Hortzemugak Begietan which they will release at the end of 2010. Watch this video:

Don’t forget to have a look at our latest blogs:

Discover the Basque Country blog: Winemaker joins San Sebastian Food team! Jon Warren proudly announces that San Sebastian Food now has the expert knowledge and premium guiding of a very exciting young talent in winemaker Jean-Paul Trijsburg.

Basque Pelota blog: Virgen Blanca: Plain Sailing for Irujo and Beloki. Manomanista champion Juan Martinez de Irujo and Ruben Beloki qualified on Thursday with ease for the semi finals of the Torneo Virgen Blanca at Ogueta. They will now meet Xala and Barriola for a place in Monday’s final.

See you later!

Agur!

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Kaixo Basques!

With just four days to go to reach the 12,000 dollar funding target, Ipuina Kontatu has received 3,090 dollars backing and a mountain of moral support. Each donation offers a special incentive. have a look at the images from Ipuina Kontatu, new documentary on the Basque Country. The Gallery shows a series of stills from Ipuina Kontatu, a documentary made by Emily Lobsenz which uses first hand accounts to tell the story of one of the world’s most ancient people.

The 45th edition of Heineken Jazzaldia will kick off in Donostia on Wednesday with Patti Smith, Elvis Costello, Ron Carter and Portico Quartet, among others.

Basque Country’s most powerful observatory opens in Bilbao. The observatory, built on the roof of Bilbao’s Technical College boasts a dome of more than 3.5 meters in diameter.

Basque unemployment rate stood at 9.1% in 2nd quarter of 2010. The number of people in work stood at 951,000, which was a net increase of 8,400 people compared to the previous quarter (+0.9%), according to Eustat data.

Don’t forget to send us your Pyrenees photos! The Tour de France enters the Pyrenees: take photos of the cyclists and atmosphere and send them to Udablog, or landscape photos to Eguraldiblog.

Have a nice day!

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Dear Basques,

How are you? We hope you are enjoying summer!

Let’s see what we have to offer you today:

Boise-born Basque brothers Javi (who recently made a documentary about Basque Shepherds in Idaho entitled Artzainak: Shepherds and Sheep), and Josu Zubizarreta called into Bilbao’s Eitb headquarters to explain how each has been looking more closely at the Basque Diaspora and the story of their forebears.

The 34th edition of Vitoria-Gasteiz Jazz Festival welcomes a very special guest today: Dianne Reeves, one of the most important and significant jazz singers of our time. She will be performing at Mendizorrotza Sports Arena, where saxophonist Joshua Redman will also play.

Watch also two videos of the concerts of Buddy Guys and Larry Carlton at Vitoria-Gasteiz Jazz Festival.

Residents of Pamplona have bid farewell to the San Fermines fiestas for another year, with a traditional rendition of ‘Pobre de mí‘. In addition, San Fermin Pelota final took place yesterday and Oinantz Bengoetexea and Patxi Ruiz won 22-12 against Titin and Pascual.  San Fermin final tournament that took place at Labrit fronton.

That’s all for today! see you soon!

Agur

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Kaixo lagunak!

Gratien Etchebehere writes a post on our wall of ‘Basque people all around the world’ group in Facebook inviting us to visit San Francisco San Fermin. He tells us about a page in Facebook where there is a video from last year.

Saturday’s running of the bulls (4^th running of the bulls) at San Fermin in Pamplona was quite fast, lasting two minutes, 53 seconds and danger arose when three of the six bulls became separated at the back of the pack.

Faith No More and Manic Street Preachers to close Bilbao BBK Live 2010. 10 internationally successful bands will take to the two main stages of Kobetamendi. eitb.com will dedicate a special page to the festival offering all the information and latest videos and images relating to BBK Live. Most concerts can be followed via Live Streaming, and interviews with the bands can also be viewed on-line. Remember to check the best photos of Bilbao BBK Live 2010.

Yesterday, more than 31,000 people attended Pearl Jam concert.

Eitb English has been on the ground at the San Fermines festival in Lesaka, the lesser-known but, many say, more authentic version of its Pamplona equivalent.

New posts:

Kepa Junkera ‘Inside & Out’ BETI BIZI

Basque Pelota blog ‘Dos Paredes’: Pelota on the web, 9th-11th July: Torneo San Fermin

See you tomorrow with more!

Bye

http://www.blogseitb.us/basque_pelota/2010/07/09/pelota-on-the-web-9th-11th-july-torneo-san-fermin/

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Hello Basques all around the world,

After San Fermin 2010 kicked off on Tuesday July 6th,  reports say that two people were injured, though not seriously on the first day. Several runners were knocked to the ground and trampled, but there were no gorings. On the second day, two people were gored and at least four more injured in falls. And lastly, today,  one person was gored and two others injured in a panic-filled third running of the bulls at Navarre’s San Fermin festival.

On EITB.com you’ll find news, videos and reports about this year’s San Fermin festivities. You can also enjoy various photo galleries and of course our special infographic about the traditional running of the bulls.

In addition, we invite you to watch this video of the Bull-running from the 1920’s. In the 1920s, the runners ran with the bulls dressed in suit and tie. It was the butchers who made it fashionable to wear the tradition white suit and red scarf.

Jeff May, owner of Boise’s Bar Gernika, tells eitb.com’s journalist Igor Lansorena about preparations for Jaialdi 2010, and how Twitter is helping them to increase their clientele and make contacts in the ‘Old Country’.

“We have been able to sell “Basque” as something attractive, academically and intellectually,” says Alberto Santana, Director of the Basque Studies Center at BSU, in an interview with eitb.com.

And to finish with, for music lovers, a number of outstanding bands will be performing at this year’s Festival Bilbao BBK Live 2010 from July 8^th to 10^th, including Rammstein, Pearl Jam and Faith No More. Basque band from Bilbao Rise to Fall opened the BBK Live 2010 festival on Thursday but Rammstein was with any doubt the main protagonist of the night.

Watch videos of Rise against or Slayer and you can see photos of the concerts playing on Thursday, Friday and Saturday here:

Thursday July 8^th concerts

Friday July 9^th concerts

Saturday July 10^th concerts

And remember you can watch the concerts live via eitb.com. EITB will be following the Festival every step of the way and most gigs can be followed live on eitb.com.

Agur lagunak!

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Dear Basques all around the world,

Basque daily newspaper DEIA, reporting on June 26th, announced October’s opening of Bar Basque in New York – the first ever Basque eatery to open in the US city, famous for its international cuisine.

A ‘First Thursday‘ packed with exciting events rings in a month that for Boise’s Basques marks the beginning of the lead-up to Jaialdi, the biggest Basque cultural festival outside the Basque Country.

See more photos here: http://tinyurl.com/2vcymeq

Produced by trikitilari Kepa Junkera, the latest album from Bertsolari Xabier Amuriza reflects his unending respect for Basque traditional music, but in a whole new, innovative light. Catch a glimpse. Bizi Beti is the latest album from Basque ‘Bertsolari’ (singer of improvised verse) Xabier Amuriza, produced by Kepa Junkera under the label of Hiri Records.

Watch this video: Paz de Ziganda Ikastola in Villava will host Nafarroa Oinez 2010 on October 17th under the slogan ‘Munduz Mundu’ (’All around the world’).

And check the latest posts on Kepa Junkera’s blog ‘Inside & Out’:

Amuriza released an album that mixes dance melodies and electronic music

Azken erronka

Have a nice weekend!

AGUR!

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Hi lagunak!

Azkena Rock Festival 2010 came to an end on Saturday night in the Basque city of Vitoria-Gasteiz with great success.

More than 44,000 people attended Azkena Rock Festival 2010 during its three days, breaking the record set in 2006.

There were many bands performing at Mendizabala: Teddy Thompson, The Damned, Imperial State Electric, Dan Baird, Imeda May, The Saints, Slash, Kiss Gov’t Mule, Kitty, Daisy & Lewis, The Hold Steady, Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers, The Jim Jones Revue, El Vez, Audience, Maggot Brain, The Cubical, The Russian Roulettes, Robert Gordon Bob Dylan, Chris Isaac, The Hives, Bad Religion…

AC/DC will give a concert as part of their Black Ice tour at the Basque city of Bilbao tomorrow Monday, June 28th at 22:00.

Watch this weekend’s videos:

Eneko Llanos and Virginia Berasategi, winners of European Triathlon Championship

Thousands of people attend the ‘Festival of Culture’ in Pamplona

B Aldea at Azkena Rock Festival: Day 2

Kiss, on the stage at Azkena Rock Festival

Basque band Audience at Azkena Rock Festival 2010

The Russian Roulettes at Azkena Rock Festival

The Cubical at Azkena Rock Festival

Maggot Brain at Azkena Rock Festival

B Aldea at Azkena Rock Festival: Day 3

Basque radio station Gaztea interviews Bad Religion at Azkena Rock

An to finish with, check Kepa Junkera’s Inside & Out blog: AFRIKA

See you tomorrow.

Agur!

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Hello Basques!

The Basque town of Salvatierra/Agurain hosts the 30th edition of Araba Euskaraz, the festival of Basque schools in Alava under the slogan “Gogoz Biziz”.

The Arriaga Theatre in the Basque town of Bilbao is staging a new production of ‘Mirentxu’ with the Basque Symphony Orchestra from June 19th to 26th.

Watch today’s videos:

Basque dancers performed ezpatadantza (”sword dance”) in homage to Don Diego Lopez de Haro, who founded Bilbao 710 years ago.

Stairs in San Miguel (Vitoria/Gasteiz) are now ‘Piano Stairs’. Jesus Guridi Conservatory and the town council decided to celebrate the Music Day in this original way.

Cycling march in favor of road safety in Vitoria-Gasteiz. The aim of this march is to raise driver and cyclists’ awareness to respect each other.

New posts:

Dos paredes Basque Pelota blog: Asegarce sign Albisu

See you tomorrow!

Agur

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Kaixo Basques!

The 22nd edition of Getxo International Blues Festival kicks off on Friday, June 18th with the performance of the American blues-rock guitarist Eric Sardinas who will present his last work recorded together with his band Eric Sardinas & Big Motor. He will be accompanied by world famous Flamenco guitarist Raimundo Amador.

The 15/15 Film Festival provides an excellent creative opportunity for filmmakers to make a short film that is up to 15 minutes in length in 15 hours.

On Wednesday June 30th, the men and women of Bilbao will be canvassed to give their signatures to promote the city’s design sector. In line with the concept of Design, however, all signatures collected during the day will go towards a unique and innovative purpose.

New posts:

Dos paredes Basque Pelota blog: ‘Pelota on the Web, 19th-20th June: Manomanista Final’

Kepa Junkera’s blog In & Out: ‘Berriaren bizia’

Off the beaten track in the Basque Country: ‘Basque is sexy’

Learning Basque: ‘Ulertzen dut’

And please, don’t forget you can send us your photos of landscapes, skies and other images of nature that depict the state of the weather, and get to see them published on-line in Eguraldiblog.

Agur!

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