Vanessa Manjarrez, 17, of Pasadena, who was crowned Rose Queen today, is of Basque heritage. She is a member of the Basque dance group Gauden Bat of Chino.

Manjarrez was one of seven girls selected for the Rose Court from over 900 applicants seeking to represent the 2013 Tournament of Roses Parade. She was picked for the top post among the seven girls on Oct. 16. Manjarrez and her court will participate in over 150 community and media functions in the upcoming year. The highlight is the Roses Parade on New Year’s Day in Pasadena.

Watch for Euskal Kazeta’s exclusive interview with Manjarrez in the next few days.

Los Angeles Times report on Manjarrez’ crowning.

Rose Queen Vanessa Manjarrez (bottom right) is part of Chino’s Gauden Bat dancers.

The Las Vegas Basque festival is known for its wonderful food — paella, barbecued lamb and a delicious salad are always on the menu. Their chorizos are to die for, and their homemade sangria or picon punch are a great addition to the afternoon. This year’s festival on Sunday, Oct. 7 was held outside the Club Fortune Casino in Henderson, near Las Vegas. Gauden Bat dancers from Chino performed traditional dances and weightlifter Aitor Narvaiza wowed the crowd with his amazing lifts.

Read EK’s story on last year’s festival
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Piperade, a San Francisco restaurant owned by renowned Basque chef Gerald Hirigoyen, is celebrating 10 years years in business and has added a new private event space.

Chef Gerald Hirigoyen. Photo courtesy of Gerald Hirigoyen.

The 1,000 square-foot space is called Lauburu, which is the Basque cross, and seats 30 people who can order from a personalized menu. Details of the new event space, which is next to Piperade, were reported by the San Francisco Eater.

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Basque Athletes in the London Olympics 2012
By Nancy Zubiri

Iker Martinez and Xabi Fernandez, Olympic Sailors.
Photo from EFE.

Two women brought top honors to the Basques in the Olympics by winning bronze medals. Maialen Chourraut Yurramendi of Donosti (San Sebastian), won the bronze medal for the individual women’s slalom kayak race. Chourraut is a Spanish slalom kayaker (also referred to as canoer), who has competed since the early 2000s. Continue Reading

Women play pala at the Boise fronton.

Women and Pelota in Boise
This weekend in Boise will be full of Basque festivities, as the annual San Inazio Festival gets underway. Among the weekend’s activities are men and women pilota competitions in the Boise fronton in the ground floor of Anduiza’s old boardinghouse.

Basque women keep up their culture in Boise by playing pala at the fronton. Sadie Babits at Boise State Public Radio produced a wonderful piece on women playing pala. They play regularly at the Anduiza fronton at 619 Grove St., which is currently the oldest Basque fronton in the United States. Continue Reading

By Nancy Zubiri

Costume designer Ane Albisu with exhibit she prepared. Photo: Euskal Kazeta.

Costume expert Ane Albisu had a hard time tracking down a bona fide bikini and miniskirt from the 1960s.

Albisu was collecting authentic items of clothing for the main exhibits of the San Telmo Museum in Donosti, which deal with Basque society through the ages. She didn’t have difficulty digging up donations of traditional Basque costumes. People realized the value of such items and had put them away in their closets and attics, Albisu said.

But old bikinis and miniskirts? Nobody had them.

The San Telmo Museoa in Donosti, the oldest museum in the Basque Country, reopened its doors in April 2011 after a major remodeling that started in 2007. Continue Reading

Bob Ithurralde exhibits his art at the Northeastern Nevada Museum.

Artist Bob Ithurralde’s Basque-themed oil paintings are currently on display at the Northeastern Nevada Museum in Elko as part of an exhibit timed to coincide with the National Basque Festival.

A reception for the exhibit, “Basque-ing in the Heritage,” was held Friday, July 6. The exhibit will continue through August 1.

Iturralde, originally from Nevada, and a resident of Salt Lake City for the last 49 years, has been painting his entire adult life as a hobby. He started specializing in paintings about Basques in the last 10 years.

In a tribute to his father, Jim Ithurralde, who immigrated to the U.S. and herded sheep for several years, the artist has gathered over the years a collection of sheep-related art, “Sheep, sheep and more sheep,” which is also on display.

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Many options exist to learn the Basque language in the United States

The Basque language, referred to as Euskera in Basque, has survived centuries, despite its current classification as a endangered language. The language is a significant identifying marker of the unique Basque culture and scientists have not been able to identify any definitive connections between Basque and any other languages.

Interest in the language has led to many options to learn Basque online. In addition, efforts have been made in recent years to train instructors in the U.S., to make classes available in several Basque communities. Read more to find out about the many options for learning Euskera.

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Euskal Kazeta’s 100 Top Basque Videos on Youtube

When I first started posting Euskal Kazeta’s Video of the Week, located on the right-hand column of our home page, about three years ago, I had to view many videos every week before I found one I thought worthy of being posted on our site. I wanted videos that kept people entertained, were fairly well done and relayed some significant aspect of the Basque culture. Most of the videos I found were homemade and not of very good quality. Most included a lot of shaking, bad sound or boring talking heads.

As time passed, I began switching the video twice a week. Today, I will visit Youtube and at any one time, I’ll find two or three videos that are fantastic and that I’d like to post. I like to give our visitors three or four days to spot our video and watch it, but I could probably switch the video every other day. The change is partially due to the growth of the Youtube website, and the rest is due to the world’s discovery and interest in the Basque culture, going back to Orson Wells’ video of the Basques, produced in 1955.

Today, Euskal Kazeta hit the 100-mark on its “favorited” videos on its Youtube page. Continue Reading

Announcing the opening of the Lehendakari Agirre Center with offices in NY and DC

Juan Jose Ibarretxe, former president of the Basque government is scheduled to visit the U.S. this week for the opening of the Lehendakari Agirre Center, which will oversee research projects on policy issues in the Basque County. He will present details in SF and NY on the think tank, which is expected to serve as a model for other nations and regions. He will be in SF tomorrow, June 19 at the Basque Cultural Center for an evening of discussion on the center. After SF, he will travel to New York to make a similar presentation Sunday, June 24 at the Eusko Etxea New York Basque Club. A reception will follow the event. For more details about the actual events, visit Euskal Kazeta’s calendar of events.

Juan Jose Ibarretxe will chair the new Lehendakari Agirre Center.

The center will have offices at Columbia University in New York City, George Mason University in Washington, D.C. and in the Basque Country, according to organizers.

The new think tank is named after Jose Antonio Aguirre, the first president of the Basque Republic, which existed for a brief period before it was overrun by forces loyal to Gen. Francisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War. The center uses the Basque spelling of Agirre. But the former president used Aguirre for his book “Escape Via Berlin: Eluding Franco In Hitler’s Europe (The Basque Series)

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Pop superstar Madonna played the Basque txalaparta when she visited the Basque Country and was very interested in Basque culture, according to an interview with a member of the group Kalakan.

Madonna's MDNA tour includes the Basque group Kalakan.

Thierry Biscary, one of the members of the musical trio Kalakan, told Euskadi Irratia radio that they met Madonna in 2011. She was vacationing in Guéthary, a Basque coastal town in southwest France.

Madonna is currently on her MDNA World Tour with Kalakan. She has included a new version of her song “Open Your Heart” in the concert line-up, and it segues into Kalakan’s “Segarra Jo.”

RELATED EUSKAL KAZETA REPORTS

Madonna To Collaborate With Kalakan
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Basque festivals are popular — everyone enjoys them, especially the food. Here are a few videos inspired by recent festivals — and the summer festival season has barely started.

Video producer Jean Paul Barthe gives a glimpse of the San Francisco Basque Club picnic June 3.
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Kalakan joins Madonna with a song in Basque at the end of her new version of “Open Your Heart” (about 2:13)

Madonna’s MDNA World Tour, which involves Basque musical group Kalakan, is kicking off in Tel Aviv, Israel.

The pop superstar met the Basque trio during a visit to the Basque Country last summer. She has included a new version of her song “Open Your Heart” in the concert line-up, and it segues into Kalakan’s “Segarra Jo.” Various Youtube videos of songs from the concert, including this Madonna/Kalakan video, went online May 30, but the tour is officially scheduled to kick off May 31.

Madonna recently visited the Basque Country. Photo: Versusali

RELATED EUSKAL KAZETA REPORT:
Madonna Collaborates With Kalakan
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Iparraguirre brothers and De Luz brothers play handball at the Bakersfield festival.

Basques who immigrated to the U.S. have managed to hang onto their national pastime of handball, playing it just like their ancestors did. Some say it’s dying, but a game between 8, 9 and 10-year-olds yesterday, showed that the sport is still alive and well.

Two teams of brothers — Asier and Angeru De Luz, ages 10 and 8 respectively, and Joseba and Xabi Iparraguirre, ages 10 and 9 — battled it out in a competitive match on Saturday, May 26 at the Kern County Basque Club court.

The exhibition match was part of the 40th annual Kern County Basque Club Festival, which typically attracts upwards of 2,000 people during the Memorial Day weekend.

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