ASTERO
Running of the Bars
Join our friends at the Basque Museum and Cultural Center this Saturday, July 11th for its annual Running of the Bars. The event will take place on the Basque Block from 5-10pm. There are two options to sign up for this fun event, you can pay event admission only, or add a commemorative event shirt. All entries include two food/drink tickets, and a commemorative cup. Tickets will also be available on the 11th for $30. For complete information, or to purchase tickets, click here.
BMCC Pilota Camp
The BMCC is also excited to announce that Pilota Camp early bird registration is now open. There are two camps being offered for kids between the ages of 8 and 15, Camp 1 July 21-24, and Camp 2 from July 27-30 both will run from 8:30am-1pm. They are also excited to announce that this year’s camp will also include Herri Kirolak (rural sports) and a soccer surprise! Sign up now and non-members save $20. For complete information or to register, click here.
SoCal Basque Club 80th Anniversary & NABO Convention
This past weekend marked the Southern California Basque Club’s 80th Anniversary in conjunction with NABO’s 2026 Convention and meeting. All the festivities took place in Chino, California from July 2nd through July 5th. The weekend was jammed packed with activities for everyone to enjoy.
The NABO convention began with the summer NABO meeting on Friday at the Chino Fairgrounds. There delegates from the 40 NABO member clubs gathered either in person or on Zoom to discuss NABO programs and activities. Esteemed guests at the meeting included Ziortza Olano Astigarraga, Director of the Basque Government’s department of the Basque Community Abroad, and Basque Delegate to the United States and Canada, based in Washington DC, Conchi Aranguren Laflin. Both attended the meeting in person and gave those present an update on the status of the new Basque Law that allows the Basque Government to conduct business with Basque entities abroad, as well as an update on the Ellis Island project that will result in an exhibit on Basque migration at Ellis Island from Memorial Day
to Labor Day of 2027. More information will be provided as it becomes available. Other highlights of the meeting included the appointment of Edurne Arostegui as NABO’s new education chair, as well as a report from Heidi and Cristian Echeverria of the Portland Basque Club familiarizing everyone with their events, and their protentional desire to become a part of NABO. To conclude the day’s business the assembly reelected Jean Flesher and Mayi Petracek as NABO President and Treasurer respectively. On behalf of everyone at NABO we appreciate their willingness to continue to serve in these capacities. Zorionak bioi!
After the meeting, the action moved to the Centro Basco kicking off the SoCal anniversary events, including Mus, pilota games played by the Udaleku kids, and dance performances by the Oinkari Basque Dancers. A buffet dinner was served followed by a public dance on the fronton to the music of Izen Gabe.
Saturday morning opened with a Mus tournament, also at the Centro Basco that vied 18 teams against each other. The 15th annual NABO Txerriki contest took place at the fairgrounds at 1pm on Saturday, with Gloria and John Lejardi placing first in the Txorizo category, while Valerie Arrechea took first in both the Tripota and Lukainka categories! Zorionak deneri!
Saturday evening, everyone returned to the Fairgrounds for the 80th Anniversary dinner and the Udaleku 2026 final performance. Sixty-three full-time campers and one part-time camper participated this year representing 15 organizations and 7 states. The theme of this year’s camp was Nafarroa with instructors coming from the Basque Country, aided by a team of 11 youth, some of whom also came from the Ateak Ireki program also Basque Country natives. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the show allowing campers a chance to show off all that they learned over the two weeks. Diners were treated to txistu, dance and song performances, and were also invited to join in on some of the social dances along with the campers.
One of Saturday night’s highlights was the awarding of the Grace Mainvil Scholarship. This scholarship was created to honor long-time NABO treasurer Grace Mainvil and awards a last year Udaleku camper by reimbursing their camp tuition. This year’s winner was Ava Johnson from the Basque Club of Utah. Zorionak Ava!
Sunday’s festivities also took place at the fairgrounds and began with mass celebrated by Aita Antton Egiguren, with the participation of a combined club Klika, and dancers from both the SoCal and Chino Basque Clubs. The rest of the day included lots of great food, and dance performances by the SoCal dancers, the Gauden Bat Chino Basque Dancers, and the Boise Oinkari Basque Dancers. The day also included the NABO Gateau Basque Contest won this year by Bernadette Berterretche! Zorionak Bernadette! The evening concluded with a public dance to the tunes of Amerikanuak.
On behalf of everyone at NABO, we would like to thank everyone involved in both the SoCal Basque Club and the Chino Basque Club for all their hard work to make it such a wonderful weekend! Zorionak to Southern California on their first 80 years, and here’s to the next 80!
To enjoy pictures and videos from the weekend, please visit the Southern California Basque Club on Facebook.
Pierre Etcharren NABO Mus Finals
The Pierre Etcharren NABO Mus Finals took place on June 20th at the Basque Cultural Center. At the end of the day, Jon Vizcay and Frank Vicondoa came in first representing the Anaitasuna Basque Club, with second place going to Javier Alzugaray and Miguel Ybarra representing the BEO. Zorionak deneri!
7/9/2026
