View 2012 Basque Summer Festivals in the U.S. in a larger map

The Basque festival season has begun, offering up great opportunities to soak up unique cultural experiences across the United States.

Bakersfield dancers at the Jaialdi 2010 festival in Boise. Photo: Euskal Kazeta.

Basque immigrants have left their footprints in communities from Boise, ID, Seattle, WA, Chino, CA to Portsmouth, RI and New York City. Each has an annual festival sponsored by a local Basque Club.

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Some festivals are huge, such as the Kern County Basque Club’s annual event. Others, such as the Las Vegas Basque Club picnic, are not as large. But each one if packed with rich Basque culture. You can always be assured of great food, colorful dances and other displays of Basque pride.

The map above is your one-stop interactive guide to this year’s Basque festivals.

Jean Irola, granddaughter Brianna and daughter Gisele

Two longtime Southern California Basque restaurant owners have passed away recently — Jean Irola and Jean Baptiste “J.B.” Sabarots.

Jean Irola

Jean Irola, longtime owner of the popular Jean’s restaurant in Colton, Calif., passed away April 26. He was 78.

Irola continued to run his restaurant up until recently, when he was diagnosed with cancer. The family has kept the restaurant open and is expected to sell the business to an interested buyer.

Irola came to the U.S in 1951 from Bardos, France where he apprenticed in a culinary program. After meeting his wife, Germaine “Gigi,” he opened his first restaurant in Los Angeles at the age of 22.

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Guernica is one of the most iconic paintings in the world. Photo: Wikipedia.com

Seventy-five years ago today, waves of Nazi planes devastated the Basque town of Guernica in an atrocity that shocked the world.

The town was was leveled on April 26, 1937, in a blitzkrieg attack by the Condor Legion of the Nazi Luftwaffe during the Spanish Civil War. Residents, many of them in the town marketplace, were trapped as the planes swooped down and dropped their bombs. Casualty figures have varied over the years. The Basque government has said that more than 1,600 people were killed.

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The Basque Museum is hosting its annual spring benefit dinner Saturday, April 28, and former Basque football star John Huarte is the featured guest. Huarte won the Heisman Trophy in 1964. After growing up in Southern California, Huarte played college football at the University of Notre Dame as a quarterback. He graduated from Notre Dame with a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration. Huarte later played professional football for several teams and was eventually elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 2005.

As part of the presentation, Huarte will discuss growing up Basque and what his culture means to him. Huarte is also expected to talk about his football career.

Chef Ramón Barquín, from Leku Ona Restaurant, will be serving dinner, which will include battered cod and grilled steak and homemade flan for dessert.

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Pop superstar Madonna has announced that she will be collaborating with the Basque trio Kalakan to remake one of her popular hits “Open Your Heart.” The song is scheduled to be part of her World Tour 2012.

Madonna recently visited the Basque Country and met Kalakan members. Photo: Versusali

Last summer, Madonna took her family on holiday to France and spent several days in the Basque Country.

The singer met the Basque musicians while visiting the coastal town of Getari. Kalakan played for her during an intimate birthday gig with friends and family, according to the website madonnarama.com.

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The stunning win by Athletic Club Bilbao over Manchester United prompted an interesting article in Forbes that examined how Basque identity has helped fuel the long-term success of the Bilbao squad.

A relentless performance by the Basque soccer players propelled the squad to a 3-2 victory over Manchester United during Europa League play at the venerable Old Trafford football stadium on March 8.

After the win, Forbes contributor Stefan Szymanski reflected on the club’s policy of hiring only Basque players.

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Bakersfield’s thriving Basque community was featured in a news report by local TV station KGET Channel 17.

The report highlighted local landmarks such as Wool Grower’s restaurant and the Noriega Hotel. Historian Steve Bass was interviewed and talked about Kern County’s rich Basque history.

The annual Kern County Basque Festival. Photo: Linda Iriart.

Also featured in the report was visiting Basque Professor Unai Nafarrate, who is teaching a language and culture class at Cal State Bakersfield.

Nafarrate, who comes from Arrasate Gipuzkoa, will be a visiting instructor in the university’s Department of Modern Languages during the winter and spring 2012 quarters

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Pablo Picasso’s iconic “Guernica” is undergoing a robotic health check as the renowned painting marks its 75th anniversary.

Guernica is one of the most iconic paintings in the world. Photo: Wikipedia.com

A specialized machine that relies on infrared and ultraviolet photography is taking thousands of microscopic shots of the oil-on-canvass masterpiece.

Dubbed “Pablito,” the robotic mechanism is scanning the painting each Tuesday when the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid, which houses the work, is closed to the public, according to media reports.

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Idaho and the Basque government have decided to form an economic partnership under an agreement that was made official on Monday.

Jaialdi is held every 5 years in Boise. Photo: Euskal Kazeta

The Basque government will open an economic development office in downtown Boise that will be staffed by a representative of the Basque government, according to a report in the Idaho Statesman.

The agreement was signed by Idaho Lt. Gov. Brad Little and Guillermo Echenique, general secretary of foreign affairs for the Basque government.

Idaho officials are hoping to foster industry business exchanges that include the renewable energy and agricultural industries, according to the report.

The Boise area is home to the largest concentration of Basque in the United States. The city is home to a popular Basque Block, and members of the local Basque population host the huge Jailaldi international Basque festival in Boise every five years.

The Nevada Historical Society in Reno is hosting an exhibit on Basque aspen art rubbings.

One of the Basque aspen rubbings at the exhibit. Photo: Nevada Historical Society.

The rubbings are made from the carvings left by Basque immigrants who worked as sheepherders. In the summer, Basque herders trailed with their sheep across the mountain ranges, taking advantage of abundant streams and lush pastures.

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Two new Basque restaurants in California are scheduled to be opened in San Francisco and Shell Beach.

In San Francisco, Bask is expected to start operating within several weeks in an area near North Beach and the Financial District. It will be the latest Basque-themed restaurant in a city with a storied Basque culture and history.

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An anonymous donor has provided $150,000 to save Los Encinos State Historic Park, which features a landmark Basque ranch and was threatened with closure because of budget cuts.

The 5-acre park, in the the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, was one of dozens of California parks slated to be closed because of a state budget crisis. It features an adobe rancho and limestone house that were part of one of California’s early Basque ranches.

The donor is a San Fernando Valley resident who decided to give $150,000 — the amount needed to keep the park open for a year, the Los Angeles Times reported.

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Cal State Bakersfield and the Kern County Basque Club are collaborating to bring a Basque language and culture course to the university.

Unai Nafarrate, who comes from Gipuzkoa, will be a visiting instructor in the CSU Bakersfield Department of Modern Languages during the winter and spring 2012 quarters.

Unai Nafarrate. Photo: Cal State Bakersfield

The 3-unit course will represent the first time that the department will offer an official for-credit course on Basque Language and Culture. The course will focus on developing beginning speaking and comprehension skills. The course will also introduce students to some of the main elements of Basque cultural identity, including history, literature, art, music, and other aspects of contemporary Basque society.

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The creation of a standardized Basque language, Euskera Batua, by the Euskaltzaindia — the Academy of the Basque Language — in the 1960s raised perhaps as many issues as it resolved. Which were true Basque words, and which were derivations of surrounding languages? Basque experts have debated these issues for decades.

Luckily, the development of a unified Basque has led to the successful promotion of the language in the Basque Country. It is the official language of Euskadi, in Iparralde. It is taught in dozens, perhaps hundreds of ikastolas — Basque schools. It is even being taught in classes throughout the Basque diaspora, in particular in Argentina and the United States. The survival of the ancient language is no longer in question.

Michael James Lancaster discusses some of the debate that led to the development of a standardized Basque language in his latest post in his “Languages of the World” blog.

See also the North American Basque Organization’s page on the Basque language.

Listen to what some Americans have to say about learning Basque: