Carson City will be a hotbed of cultural activities this Sunday during the popular St. Teresa of Avila Basque Festival.
As many as 2,000 people have attended past festivals. This weekend’s event, which will be held at the city’s Fuji Park, is again likely to be a huge draw.
Cost of admission is $25 if tickets are purchased in advance and $30 the day of the event. Gates open at 11 a.m., followed by Mass an hour later. For information on advance tickets see the festival web page.
The entertainment will feature Jesus Goñi, a renowned bertsolari, someone who sings rhyming improvised stanzas in Basque. Goñi has performed with some of the great berstolaris in the Basque County and was a 2003 National Endowment for the Arts honoree. An exhibition of dog herding will be conducted by Sandy Moore. And University of Nevada Reno student Stephanie Braña, an aizkolari, or Basque wood chopper, will be performing. (See her in action in this Euskal Kazeta video.)
As always, festival-goers can enjoy great Basque food and drink. A chorizo and picon bar will open at 1 p.m. And lamb stew, as well as barbecue meals of lamb, turkey, chicken and beans from Gardnerville’s three Basque restaurants will be available.
The festival has been an annual affair in the scenic Carson Valley since the event was first organized in the 1990s to benefit Carson City’s Catholic school.
