Korrika

Please come out and celebrate the 18th edition of Korrika! We will be gathering at Hellman Hollow Picnic Area (formerly known as Speedway Meadows) in the Golden Gate Park on Saturday, March 23rd.

Running will take place from 10am-12pm. Lunch will be provided afterward.

There will be games & prizes - all ages are welcome!

Join us in solidarity with runners in the Basque Country to celebrate Euskara!

Past Korrika Celebrations:

We got together in golden gate park on Saturday morning (4/16/2011). There were approximately 50 people - old & young, from here and from Euskal Herria (some are studying here, some are working here, some were from Arrasate (Gipuzkoa) on a month-long project, others were here on an extended vacation). It was a really great ambiance and everyone was happy to participate remotely in korrika. Lots of euskara was heard and celebrated! We ran a lap around the parkgrounds with a bicyclist leading the pack - he had music attached to his bike, so we listened to Gose (see video clip at bottom of this page) and the crowd shouted 'tipi tapa! tipi tapa! Korrika!' Afterwards, an incredible paella was prepared by Juan San Mames. Everyone had a good-sized helping of the delicious dish. People talked, children played and everyone enjoyed the day!!

Here are a few pictures...

The Basque Cultural Center celebrated the Korrika event, that happens every 2 years in the Basque Country in support of the Basque language euskara. 

What’s a Korrika? 

Korrika is the Basque name of a Country-wide walkathon organized by the Coordinator for Basque Language and Literacy/Learning (AEK) in support of the Basque language. The objective of the event is to enhance awareness of Basque and raise funds to carry out this work on a daily basis in AEK study centres. 

The first Korrika took place in 1980 and the course ran from Oñati (Gipuzkoa) to Bilbao (Bizkaia). Since then, the walkathon has become one of the Basque Country’s major events in terms of number of participants. Over the past 28 years 15 korrikas have been held. 

2011´s Korrika will be held from the 7th April to the 17th April, from Trebiñu (Araba) to Donostia (Gipuzkoa). The slogan is "Maitatu, ikasi, ari,...Euskalakari" (Love it, learn it, speak it,...Euskalakari). It wants to be an homage to all those people who love the Basque language, learnt it or are learning it now, and use it. Kalakari is a word invented for this event, to represent the persons mentioned. 

A hollow baton is carried during the walkathon and exchanges hands at each change of kilometre. Inside there is a message which will not be made public until the Korrika ends on April 5th in Vitoria-Gasteiz, when a well-known Basque personality will read it out loud. 

 

Who organizes the Korrika?

AEK, Coordinator for Basque Language and Literacy/Learning is in charge of organizing this event, with the objective of publicizing and reviving the Basque language. To this end, the Coordinator works in the field of adult education in the Basque language. In addition to Basque classes in its academies or euskaltegis, AEK conducts research and teacher education courses, creates teaching materials, and organizes cultural events and awareness campaigns in favour of the Basque language. 

How has AEK evolved? 

The earliest adult education courses for Basque-speaking adults were formed around 1965, the year of the first campaign to promote the recovery of Basque. Since then, AEK has continued in this field conducting many more such courses, but at the same time it has also promoted Basque classes for the general public. Enhancing the wide-spread use of Basque has always been objective and has led to the creation of its string of evening schools or gau-eskolak. This whole movement has been created with the support and encouragement of Euskaltzaindia, the Academy of the Basque Language. 

Today AEK is one of the Basque Country’s most important organisations in the field of adult language education in Basque, with some 100 academies and more than 500 teachers. Here is the video produced by the avant-garde group GOSE for the 2011 Korrika: 

Euskalakari 

Mingain zorroztuak ginen
Zuri, hori, berde eta gorri ginen

Barakaldon beterano ginen 

Arriskua ginen, 

erromeria ginen

Su iraultzaile ginen 

Enpresari eta sindikatu ginen

Lesbiana, hetero, gay ginen

Gehiegi izan ginen, 

nahikoa ez ginen 

Euskalakari izango gara! 

Pausoz pauso, euskalakari! 

Eserita, zer itxoiten zenuen? 

Beldurtuta, nekatuta ote zinen… 

Trena pasa da ta zu begira hemen 

Ukabila ginen eta hitza ginen 

Euskalakari izango gara! 

Pausoz pauso, euskalakari! 

We had our tongs

cut We were white, 

yellow, green and red 

We were *veterans in Barakaldo

We were danger, 

we were party 

We were a revolutionary fire 

We were businesmen and unions 

We were lesbians, hetero, gay 

We were too many, we were not enough 

We will be Euskalakari 

Step by step, euskalakari. 

Sitting down, 

what were you waiting for? 

Maybe you were scared or tired 

The train came by and you are here staring 

We were fists and words. 

Step by step, euskalakari. 

*Probably refers to Basque teachers or Basque speakers in a non Basque speaking place. 

Translated by Izaskun Kortazar "Euskalakari”, which is the slogan of Korrika this year, and is actually a made up word by the organizers of Korrika (AEK), which denotes a person who loves and cares about euskara and uses it at any opportunity.