We're all Basque for this festival
May 24—When the Kern County Basque Festival, which takes place each year over Memorial Day weekend, approaches there's a buzz not only among the local Basque population but the overall community.
In a way, everyone is an honorary Basque for those days, enjoying hearty meals perhaps washed down with a glass of wine or picon punch, taking in a mus tournament, watching international and U.S. handball players, getting into the spirit with traditional Basque music and dancing and learning more about the rich history of Basques in California and those in the Basque Country.
This wholehearted embrace of Basque traditions and culture is another reason the local festival is special, according to Dr. Steven Gamboa, co-director and chair of the Institute for Basque Studies at Cal State Bakersfield and board member of the Kern County Basque Club.
"These Basque festivals are held in a lot of different communities all over the American West wherever there is a substantial Basque community," he said, noting the recent celebration in Los Banos as well as festivals in Fresno, San Francisco and across Nevada.
"What really makes Bakersfield stand out is the community. It's not just the Basque community, but the way that just people in Bakersfield come and have a great time. That is really unusual. The Sunday afternoon from lunch on into the evening, where there's just a really lively and fun crowd. And it's not just Basque people, it's people from Bakersfield who have grown up with American Basque culture and love it. They come out and they have a great time. That's, I think, what really makes it unique, makes it different from all the other ones (festivals) is that way it's just ingrained in the culture."
Along with special guests from Basque Country, including the band Luhartz and a quartet of pelota (handball) players, this year's festival will benefit from an added historical element with the display of a museum exhibit and an expanded Basque Studies Symposium at CSUB.
Louis Iturriria, Basque Club president, said they are proud to host the "Basques in California" exhibit, which offers information spanning from the 1500s with the first Basque explorers in the New World to the more recent missionaries, sheepherders, business owners and politicians.
This exhibit, based on the research and writings of Asun Garikano as well as contributions from other researchers and scholars, is partially sponsored by the Basque Government in Euskadi and the North American Basque Organization.
Originally opened in October 2019 at the Museo Vasco de Bilbao, Bizkaia, the exhibit has toured the U.S., most recently falling under the stewardship of the Basque Educational Organization in San Francisco.
"They're managing the exhibit and really encouraging the clubs, especially in California, to showcase it during their events," Iturriria said. "So we are excited to have that with us this year."
Iturriria said he hasn't seen it yet but heard good things from a relative who saw its original display.
"One of my uncles in the Basque country that lives in Bilbao, he was very excited and very proud to be able to visit it when it was there. There were 14 siblings in my dad's family, so a very large family, and five of the brothers emigrated here to Bakersfield. So he was the youngest brother and it was really neat for him to see that."
The exhibit will be on display inside the Kern County Basque Club's clubhouse throughout the weekend.
History buffs can get started on Friday afternoon during the Basque Studies Symposium at the university.
Last year's inaugural event, which included a history presentation and film screening followed by a concert by renowned Basque musician Mikel Urdangarin, drew about 50 people to the presentations and about three times that number to the Dore Theatre concert.
Although there are no musical acts, Gamboa is optimistic that this year's symposium lineup will draw more attendees with its mix of local history, current Basque Country economics and what may be a lively presentation by the institute's Frank Bidart visiting artist Olatz Gorrotxategi. (See sidebar for full list of speakers.)
The dramatist, director, performer, and drama teacher at the Bizkaia School of Theatre in Biscay, Spain, has been in residence since April 30 and will wrap up her work early next month.
Gamboa said, "She's working on a project that deals with immigration, with leaving one's birthplace and traveling to far-off lands to make a new life, so that's what she's going to be talking about. Or, you know, she's being very cagey. She says she doesn't like to give traditional talks. She likes to make people get up and move around and maybe enact something, so I'm expecting it to be something like that."
Saturday and Sunday will be filled with events, with Sunday being the biggest day, starting with Mass at 10 a.m. followed by meals, performances by the Basque Club dancers and Klika (military marching band), pelota matches and a dance with music by Luhartz.
Before visitors leave town on Monday, there is a breakfast at Wool Growers as the farewell event.
"It's a beautiful tradition," Iturriria said. "A delicious, delicious breakfast. It's always just what's needed after a long weekend."
As the club nears 50 years of celebrations, Iturriria said members are excited to keep the tradition alive.
"We take great pride in continuing the legacy of hosting a Basque festival that's fun and memorable each year. It definitely requires months of planning and lots of hard work and dedication to make it possible, but our members and friends come together in big ways by volunteering, supporting us financially and joining us throughout the weekend."
"For the main event (on Sunday), it's always very rewarding to see people excited, smiling, having fun at the Basque Club. That just really makes it, all the hard work, so worthwhile."
Stefani Dias can be reached at 661-395-7488. Follow her on Twitter at @realstefanidias.
