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Basques from Washington DC will celebrate their annual festival tomorrow, September 6^th. It’s going to be the sixth time these East-coasters gather for the so-called “Piperrapalooza Festival,” a combination of the words “piperra” (Basque for pepper) and Lollapalooza, a famous indie music festival, as Sam Zengotitabengoa, member of the Board of Directors, told Euskalkultura.com.

Washington DC, USA. Sam Zengotitabengoa is going to open his house for, “around 75 people”, to celebrate the sixth annual “Piperrapalooza Festival” – the main event of the year for Basques in the Washington DC area, he states. “Some years ago I got some Gernika piperra seeds and planted them, that’s why we called it Piperrapalooza. We don’t always have Gernika peppers so we bring some from Boise or other places and have our own party.” Then, he added with joy: “But this year we do have Gernika piperrak!”

Zengotitabengoa owns a “small house with a pretty decent backyard” that allows him to host, not just a gathering around food, but also, a playground for kids, a foosball table (the teams being Athletic Club Bilbao and Real Sociedad, from Donostia-San Sebastian), “a nice place to hang out with friends,” and also a sokatira or tug-of-war contest.

Sam and his wife are going to prepare a very complete menu consisting of fillet mignon, piquillo and Gernika peppers, tuna with tomato sauce, tortilla, and paella. “I’ll take Friday off to cook; I’ll be cooking for around 12 hours. Then, on Saturday, I’ll build a fire outside at around noon, people will start arriving around 5:00 p.m. and we’ll probably start eating by 6:30 p.m.” Attendees will bring desserts, wine, beer, and cocktails for a party that might continue well into the night.