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On December 5, the Euskal Etxea in Bristol England celebrated its first anniversary.  Its members and friends celebrate with a birthday dinner, finishing off its first 12 months in style that were “very intense and full of activities” as they told EuskalKultura.com.  Now, the young Basque club has taken a few weeks off to celebrate Christmas to return in the new year with more energy. 

Bristol, England.   The Bristol Euskal Etxea, known as the Bristol Basque Cultural Society, has celebrated its first year of life, and members of this young club are very satisfied with its first 12 months of activity.  “It was a very intense year, full of activities, and we haven’t hardly had any time to breath,” club president, Usue, told EuskalKultura.com.

The Basque club was officially inaugurated on December 5, 2015 supported by a group of youth from the Basque Country that are now residing in the south of England in cities like Bristol and Bath.  The goal of the club is to be a meeting and welcoming point, as well as the loudspeaker from which the Basque culture is introduced to English society.

Basque Stand

To this aim, the club combines leisure and culture like at its most recent activity, celebrating its first anniversary.  The weekend began with a birthday dinner, attended by 22 people; and the next morning, the club had a Basque stand at the local Christmas Fair.  “We had an unforgettable day with some unbeatable sales,” Usue said.

The club has also held many more activities throughout the year like inviting the group, Belako, to England to give a concert in Bristol; they publicized the concerts of the Basque group Iziarren Semeak, as well as supported the presence, for the first time, of Basque music at the Bath Folk Festival, inviting Basque txistulari Garikoitz Mendizabal to participate.

Mus Club and Library

Other activities include the celebration of special dates like San Fermin, with a poteo and a competition among the groups of friends, or a gathering to watch the Estropadas (row competitions) in Donostia…The Basque club also organized two Mus tournaments, and every two months they hold a Mus workshop called, Mus Club.  Another original activity is the Bristoleko Librutegia (Bristol Library), where members exchange and comment on Basque books.

To conclude, the club has a great relationship with the other Basque club in England, the veteran London Basque Society with whom they collaborate this summer on the BakFest Festival in London, also organizing the England Mus Tournament.

More information on the Bristol Basque Cultural Society on its website, Facebook and Twitter.