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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Wherever you are, I hope the weather is to your liking.  Over here, August has so far been typically Basque, by which I mean varied, sometimes wet but never lacking in beauty. You only have to take a look at our Eguraldiblog users to see that!

Once again Zorionak, Enhorabuena, Félicitations and Congratulations to Javi Aitor Zubizarreta, a Basques Around the World group member and one that’s frequently been making our headlines recently. The latest is that Javi received an important Award following on from his work on Artzainak: Shepherds and Sheep.

Igor caught up with him in Boise and got a taster of what’s to come in his next movie. It’s a fiction movie – though still no sign of Super-Basko!

Once again the Basque Country has hit the headlines in New York for its gastronomy – what else? Yesterday the focus was a wine, little known internationally but increasingly popular here and in the US. You guessed it – Txakoli.. Enter here to find out what they said – you may be surprised.

You may remember last month we published a report ‘on the ground’ from San Fermines in Lesaka, where we got a firsthand insight into the Discover the Basque Country tour?

Paddy Woodworth, Irish journalist and author of two books about the Basque Country, is one of the co-creators of that tour and has been telling Olwen what it’s like to share a passion.

That’s all for now.

Laister arte!

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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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Those of you who were lucky enough to attend the Jaialdi celebrations in Boise this year, how are you feeling now it’s all over?

It might be over, but it’s still not been forgotten by Basque People All Around the World…

Were you one of those following the events on Twitter? This year’s Jaialdi became a hot topic among the Boise Twitter community these last few weeks and an invaluable source of information, photos, news, schedules and funny stories.

The Basque sport of pelota played an important part at this year’s Jaialdi, though the US is usually more famed for its liking for cesta punta, or Jai Alai.

Yesterday was the 31^st anniversary of Biscay-born Ramon Areitio’s record breaking 187-mile ball at the Newport Jai Alai of Rhode Island, a record which you may remember was broken by US golfer Jack Zuback just three years ago.

Basque golfer Txema Olazábal renewed the golf-Jai Alai speed challenge and went head-to-head with ‘cesta puntista’ Imanol López to prove once and for which one was the world’s fastest ball sport… and to raise money for a good cause!

Mugalari is back on our Basque Tourism blog with a new tip for travellers to the Basque Country. This time he’s here to praise the virtues of rural lodgings and tell us where to make reservations.

Agur!

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Day three of Jaialdi promises Basque sports galore including some of the biggest names in the world of Herri Kirolak and the NABO Pelota tournament.

Wednesday night, meanwhile, traditionally a big night, was apparently rocked harder than ever thanks to the likes of Amuma Says No and the Oinkaris. Basques All Around the World group members Katie D’Angelo (remember her?) and Jose Antonio Alcayaga III were there to soak up the atmosphere and give their take on the  events of the evening.

Meanwhile Kepa Junkera, who was in Boise earlier this year and went down a storm, has been busy playing gigs in Catalonia, Caceres… you name it. He’s also been busy on his blog, with two new posts: One is an interview he gave to Biscay newspaper Deia on July 8^th. Another one is further news about his and Xabier Amuriza’s latest combined work BETI BIZI.

More news soon.

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There are just 4 days and 16 hours to go until the start of this year’s Jaialdi celebrations in Boise. Throughout the course of the festival, we’ll be bringing you news, images and updates of goings-on.

As you can imagine, with less than a week to go Boiseans are now in the final stages of preparations. It is now the turns of Boise Mayor David Bieter and Basque Museum Director Patty Miller to tell us how each of them has been preparing for Jaialdi.

Dave Bieter, a Boisean of Basque descent, says that there are more Basques than ever visiting from the Basque Country and just to make us feel welcome recorded an invite in his very best Euskera!

News this side of the Atlantic includes the latest from San Sebastian’s Heineken Jazzaldia, which included an important award presentation for double-bassist Roy Carter and a performance from Cuba’s Arturo Sandoval.

Laister arte!

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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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Following up so soon on our now twice-weekly updates we just had to tell you about our interview with Emily Lobsenz, the US filmmaker who is seeking backing for her documentary Ipuina Kontatu.

The documentary takes a fascinating look at Basque culture and how it has managed to survive so many slings and arrows.

Read the intriguing interview and find out how you can take a part in the film’s release and get a sheep named after you! Plus receive some other interesting perks.

Ipuina Kontatu [Telling Stories] -promo trailer from Daggewood Films – Emily Lobsenz on Vimeo.

Other interesting news today is that Elhuyar Basque Encyclopaedia is now up and running. But don’t worry if you don’t speak Euskera – the on-line science and technology Encyclopaedia also offers definitions in English, Spanish and French.

Joe Sample and Randy Crawford play at Vitoria’s Jazzaldia tonight. Meanwhile, enjoy a video of last night’s gig with Diane Reeves.

Have a great weekend.

Ondo pasa!

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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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José Antonio Alcayaga III has written to remind us about Ipuina Kontatu, the feature-length documentary about the Basque Country made by Emily Lobsenz.

There are just 11 days left to pledge a donation towards the 12,000 dollars they need to get it released. So far they’ve raised nearly $2000 but there’s still a long way to go.

Find out how you can donate and even win yourself a copy of the film and more.

As Jaialdi draws ever closer – just two weeks to go now until kick-off – organizers have been telling eitb.com about the last-minute preparations for the last week of July.

Another festival, meanwhile, will shortly draw to a close: Today was the penultimate bull-run of San Fermines – and the quickest. Read about how it went and see the video.

Gero arte!

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