Basques around the world

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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Hey Basques,

There are only minimum services today due to industrial action, though the sun certainly isn’t on strike.

Remember we told you a few weeks ago that Bilbao had been awarded a ‘Nobel’ prize thanks to its ‘liveability’ and post-industrial rejuvenation? Well the City Mayor is currently in Singapore to pick up that award.

Mugalari has written about another good reason to visit the city. You may or may not know about the hanging bridge, actually classed as a World Heritage Monument by UNESCO. A fantastic piece of machinery, it’s been running since 1893.

Don’t forget of course that AC/DC played in the Basque capital last night. By all accounts the whole of the San Mames stadium rocked to the Australian band’s gig, possibly their last ever – and they played it in Bilbao! Why would that be, we wonder..?

Don’t forget the next big musical event is BBK Live, starting on July 8th. If you don’t know already, here’s a sneak peak at some of the acts playing on the first night.

That’s all for now!

Gero arte.

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Hello again Basques,

We’re on 1,981 members now Basques – so close to reaching our current target of 2,000 in our facebook group Basques Around the World. Then who knows how many we can get up to? The sky’s the limit as they say…

The biggest item today for our Boise Basques or all those going to this year’s Jaialdi Festival is the chance to reserve a program book; a great souvenir which you can also contribute to…

Anyone planning a trip to the Basque Country in July – or those of you already here and with a taste for festivals – might be interested to know that the line-up for this year’s BBK Live Festival in Kobetamendi is really filling out; a clue in our photo.

For sport fans, the good news today is that Bizkaia Bilbao Basket managed to turn their match around against Brose Baskets to get a win.

Also, we forgot to tell you yesterday about our latest recipe for a fantastic pintxo creation, this time at the hands of chef Bittor Muñoz. Even if cooking is not your thing, it’s impressive to see him make mist you can eat!

And did we tell you that Madonna has her eye on one of our very own home-grown models, Jon Kortajarena?!

Enjoy!

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