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 all around the world!

How are you? How is the weekend going on?

When fire swept through the kitchen of Basque restaurant Mugaritz during the early hours of February 15th, causing devastating damage to the interior, the subsequent closure of Andoni Aduriz’s two Michelin starred eatery was a reason to be down. After four months of initial grief, Basque restaurant Mugaritz will open its doors on Tuesday, June 15th.

Manhattan Island Marathon Swim is a current-assisted 28.5-mile race around the island in New York that took place on June 12, 2010. The swimmer from the Basque town of Donostia-San Sebastian Jaime Caballero also took part in the event.

To finish with, check out  the latest posts left during the weekend on our blogs:

Discover the Basque Country blog: All set for the summer!

Off the beaten track in the Basque Country blog: Araba, the ignored province, for no reason at all…

Inside & Out: Kepa Junkera will be in charge of closing the Art Festival of Miajadas

Learning Basque: Bigarren astean

That’s all for today, see you tomorrow!

Agur

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Kaixo lagunak!

The prominent American trumpeter and jazz composer Wynton Marsalis recorded together with the virtuoso flamenco composer Paco de Lucia ‘Vitoria Suite’ from July 20th to 22th, 2009, paying tribute to the Basque capital Vitoria-Gasteiz. The 2CD album will be finally released on Tuesday, June 7th.

Sunday June 6th saw the start of ‘Visible Donostia 2010‘, the first LGTB Festival of Culture aimed at lesbians, gays, transsexuals and bisexuals in Donostia-San Sebastian.

30 young adults have been selected for ‘Gaztemundu 2010‘. The Basque Government directorate for Citizens and Basque Communities Abroad have decided who can participate in this year’s edition. Among them Chileans, Americans, Argentineans and Colombians.

Caja Laboral defeat Real Madrid 64-56, will play ACB finals. The Basques won the fifth game of the series and will play Regal Barcelona for the ACB championship.

To finish with, we have two new posts in two of our blogs:

In Basque Pelota blog: Manomanista: Xala trumps battling Asier to reach the final. The scoreline, which seemingly suggests an easy victory for the favorite, fails to tell the true tale of a match where nothing came easily. Xala was put under huge pressure.

And in Learning Basque blog:  Reflections of a Boisean learning Basque in Maizpide Basque School in Lazkao, Guipúzcoa.

Agur!

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Hi Basques –

Firstly, a correction: José Alcayaga (the US-Basque photographer) kindly wrote to inform us that his photo exhibition is on in Greenwich Connecticut and NOT New York! Thanks for that José.

Otherwise, if you’re curious about Basque history you should definitely read on:

This Thursday and Friday (April 15^th and 16^th) at the University of Nevada in Reno is the 9^th Annual International Conference. This year the title is “War, Exile, Justice and Everyday Life, 1936 -1946” and includes an interesting section on Basques caught up in the civil war and in exile.

Back in the 1960s, one such Basque exile – Gotzon Elortza, then residing in France – would sneak across the State border to film his land and people, knowing it would help keep the language alive. Three documentaries by Elortza – the first ever to be filmed in the Basque language – are now being re-mastered.

Fittingly enough, this Thursday also sees the start of the Zinebi International Short Films and Documentaries Festival, which offers two months of films in the categories of shorts and documentaries – check it out if you can.

Some great news if you’re looking for a cultural holiday to the Basque Country – author Paddy Woodworth and chef Jon Warren have teamed up to offer you a unique Basque adventure. The first one will be this July between 5^th and 8^th and includes a trip to San Fermines in Lesaka, Navarre.

Bihar arte!

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Kaixo Basques!

American Chris Horner wins Tour of Basque Country. Second overall behind the Radio Shack rider was Spain’s Alejandro Valverde with Basque rider Beñat Intxausti in third. See some of the best photos of the Tour of the Basque Country.

The Basque City of Donostia- San Sebastian was one of five cities worldwide selected for The Google Model Your Town Competition, a contest in which contestants use a program called Google SketchUp to create images of their cities and submit them to Google for consideration.

The first ever International Comic Exhibition of Navarre is closing its doors on Sunday, April 11th, putting capital Pamplona under the global spotlight for comics for four weeks.

And to finish with, tickets for the AC/DC concert at the Basque city of Bilbao will go on sale next April 22nd, Live Nation announced on its website. The Australian band will perform live at Athletic’s San Mames stadium, a venue which has a much greater capacity that their previous concerts in the Basque Country have allowed.

That’s all for today

Agur!

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Aupa Lagunak!

Casa Rural Lizartzanea has left us a post on the wall of our group in Facebook Basque people all around the world telling us about this country house which is 20 minutes far from Donostia-San Sebastian. Thanks to your contribution!

We have good news for Athletic Bilbao lovers since they climbed to sixth with 42 points, despite being held 2-2 by visiting Getafe in a stormy encounter at San Mames in Bilbao yesterday.

In addition, Bilbao Bizkaia Basket took the lead on the scoreboard with just one minute left to end the game to defeat Cajasol and extend their winning streak to 6 and Caja Laboral was unable to stop all-mighty Barcelona.

To finish with, the best eight bertsolaris from Navarre competed for the ‘txapela’ (winner’s beret) in the Basque Bertsolaritza championship celebrated in Lesaka, Navarre.

See you tomorrow and ondo izan!

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