Basques around the world

Good afternoon Basques –

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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Hi Basques,

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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Arratsalde on!

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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Arratsalde on!

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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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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Hi Basques,

There are some exciting happenings coming up in the Basque World this summer. In case you hadn’t heard (;-) Boise’s Jaialdi Festival has come round again and there are now just 21 days to go!

July 6^th, of course, marks the beginning of what is probably the biggest, most famous, most spectacular fiesta in the whole of the Basque calendar: SAN FERMINES!!

12pm today was the traditional ‘txupinazo’ when a rocket officially announced the start of 9 days of partying, madness and joy. Catch the latest news, videos and photos today and throughout the next nine days on Eitb.com/en.

On the other side of the Atlantic, Igor has been speaking with Alberto Santana, head of the Basque Studies Center at Boise State University. He’s been talking about a rather different side to Jaialdi, where several academics have been invited to talk about the history behind Boise’s Basque names at a conference being held during the celebrations.

Happy San Fermines, and don’t forget to check out the Infographic on the traditional running of the bulls.

Laister arte!

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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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Hello-

Well I don’t know what the weather’s like where you are, but it’s typical Basque weather here today. However, it would seem we’re promised good, stable weather for the weekend, so here’s hoping.

The big news on this side of the Atlantic is that ex-Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman is playing a gig in the Basque capital Vitoria on Friday night. He’ll be heading up his new band, ‘The Rhythm Kings’.

We have three exciting new blog entries, firstly on our Tourist ‘Off the Beaten Track’ blog; Kepa Junkera has left his latest post about this year’s Jaialdi; and catch the latest from Tiffany about the Pelota.

And for Athletic fans, a new signing. Alaves player Igor Martinez will play for the team next season.

Ondo pasa!

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Good morning/afternoon!

We have a couple of great blog posts today Basques.

Firstly, a new post on our Basque Country Live blog. This time a one-to-one with Jon Warren, the man behind San Sebastian Food and co-creator of the Discover the Basque Country Tour, both of which we wrote about last week.

It’s all go since we started our Kepa Junkera blog – Kepa played the Chino Basque club in Chino California on Saturday, a visit which was to coincide with a recording session.

Talking of music: We told you that legendary blues musician John Mayall would be playing Bilbao. Well check out the video of his performance.

Eitb.com also managed a scoop with famous US creative writer Robert McKee, who’ll be dropping into our headquarters on Friday. He gave us an exclusive interview in the lead up to his visit, which you can see here.

That’s all for now.

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Hi Basques,

We have a cracking item for you today Basques.  You might remember our previous articles about Ahizpak, two American-born Basque sisters from Nevada who moved to Boise eight years ago and started their own design company based on Basque symbolism.

Our latest article about them includes a video about one of the sisters – Maite – who came to EITB in Bilbao to pay us a visit and tell us first-hand about Ahizpak and what they’ve got planned for the upcoming Jaialdi festival.  Check out the article and video.

Meanwhile,  stay up to date with the latest news from the Manomanista with the latest entry on our Dos Paredes – English Pelota blog.

And lastly, much rain with a few sunny patches here and there have their (colourful) advantage, depending on where you’re standing of course! Enjoy these weather photos.

Laister arte.

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