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JMA/Havana, Cuba. As in the past few years, the Basque community in Cuba celebrated Aberri Eguna , a central date of its annual activities.  The traditional Mus Tournament was organized on Saturday the 19^th by the Peña AthletiKuba and in its sixth year, attracted ten teams.  The intense competition was followed by an animated dinner that lasted into the night.  Some 70 people, including Basque community members and visitors enjoyed the dinner on the eve of Aberri Sunday.

On the next day, starting early in the morning, a team took over the kitchen to prepare the main dish under the expert direction of cook Felix Sarasola.  Another group of volunteers took care of the decorations, designed by Cuban artist, Ines Garrido, as well as taking care of other tasks that were just as important.

More than two hundred people

The Asociacion Vasco Navarra de Beneficencia (AVNB, Basque Navarrese Charity  Association ), organizer of the celebration, opted on this occasion, without having a clubhouse (still unfinished), to use the spacious facilities of the Nautical Social Circle, located east of the capital.  Two hundred twenty people, children and adults, attended the event starting at noon, to enjoy a day of culture and community that lasted until 7pm.

The cultural activities began at noon with the President of the AVNB, Renato Garcia Eguskiza welcoming everyone present as well as situating everyone on the spirit of the day and its meaning to the Basque-Cuban community.  This was followed by Cuban singers Jade, the Cuban improviser Emiliano Sardiñas, accompanied by his son Emanuel, and the trikitilaris Gari-Iñaki who were all enjoyed by the audience.

[Renato Garcia Egusquiza, president of the AVNB of Cuba addressing those attending Aberri Eguna 2014 (photo Goitia)]

Cuban rythyms and trikitixa

Lunch began at 2pm with salad, marmitako, dessert and coffee, soft drinks, beer or wine, depending on preferences and ages.  All was followed by a erromeria with a concert by singer Ray Fernandez who heated things up, and who was joined by the trikitilaris Gari-Iñaki, and from there, in a combination of different kinds of music, dances and languages, participants danced to the traditional Cuban rhythms, Mexican, and Basque jotas.

Highlights of the event include the presence, accompanied by the Ray Fernandez group, of “tresero” (player of tres, a Cuban typical instrument) Pancho Amat, considered one of the best Cuban musicians on this instrument and nationally recognized in music; the popular writer Daniel Chavarria, awarded the national literature prize in Cuba and his Uruguayan counterpart; as well as the special recognition  that the organizers have devoted to the 25 years of artistic life of Emiliano Sardiñas one of the most prominent and well-known Cuban improvisers, equivalent to Basque berstolaris; artists and personalities that never miss an invitation by their Basque friends.