Basques around the world

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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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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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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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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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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Hello Basques!

It’s really warm and sunny here in the Basque Country today, a really nice day to visit ‘Arrain Azoka’ (Fish Fair) in the Basque town of Bermeo as it is celebrating its 16^th edition. Over thirty stalls are installed in Parque La Lamera Park with the aim to display their produce, of which many are very difficult to find on the market nowadays.

Blues musician John Mayall will be in Bilbao, San Sebastian and Vitoria on May 23rd, 26 and 29th, respectively.

According to Eustat data, the number of visitors to the Basque Country increased by 10% in April 2010.

To finish for today, check a new post on Kepa Junkera’s Inside & Out blog: In Boise, Kepa Junkera is recording with pianist Paul Tillotson, and singer Curtis Stigers, as well as bass player Rod Wray and drummer Spencer Martin from the Basque band Amuma Says No.

Have a nice day and please, remember to have  a look at the best moments from Boise’s Jaialdi 2005. You will find new photos every day!

Agur!

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Good afternoon to our 2,245 members-

The sun continues to shine here and we’re promised a fabulous weekend of beach weather and small waves for those budding surfers!

Because of a few technical hiccups yesterday we couldn’t tell you that the video of the Athletic Bilbao squad playing against 200 school children ended up receiving 30,000 hits on the net and was voted by digg users to go on its homepage. It was also posted by an Aussie Man Utd fan onto the UK team’s official forum.

Well, there’s more… because the 20,000 spectators, raised enough money to build a football school for children in the Congo. It was Etxebe’s decision to donate the money to the children, who have been in the hearts of all Athletic players and fans since a video was made of them singing the team anthem.

Anyway, read that story and see the video here.

Remember we told you about a new tour entitled Discover the Basque Country, created by historian Paddy Woodworth and gastronomy guru Jon Warren. Well there’s another great article, this time about Jon and his company San Sebastian Food, which provides a more original experience for tourists all centred around the Community’s great food.

And we have a brand new blog! Basque internationally-acclaimed musician and trikitixa maestro Kepa Junkera is currently on a tour of the States. From time to time he’ll be writing to us about his experiences and the people he meets on his travels. His first article is about Ramon Echeveste, born in Doneztebe, Navarre. He left the Basque Country at the age of 20 with nothing but the clothes on his back.  He is now the successful self-made owner of a sheep company.

Ondo ibili!

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Hello Basques!

Good afternoon from a rainy Bilbao, where forecasters are predicting waves of up to 4 metres later this evening.

Mugalari has given us another insight into Basque Tourism on our ‘Off the Beaten Track’ blog, this time about the port town of Algorta. Also, don’t forget to check out the brochures by Fresco Tours on the Basque Country.

Bea Echeveste wrote yesterday to tell us about Kepa Junkera’s article for local newspaper Deia, as he makes his way round the States: check out his blog and see what he makes of the place.

The Guggenheim Bilbao Museum has just announced an exhibition of works by Henri Rousseau opening this May. If you’re in the Biscay capital today and hoping to see some jazz, Charlie Haden and his quartet are playing the Teatro Campos Elíseos.

Enjoy the Easter weekend.

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