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The Provincial Immigrant Festival in Concordia begins next Friday in this city of the province of Entre Rios, running this year September 9-11.  The Colectividad Vasca Basque Club in Concordia will represent Euskal Herria in various proposals at the festival, including having food and cultural stands, dance performances, during the queen selection and the soccer tournament, where the “Euskaldunak” team already boasts a win. 

Concordia, Argentina.   On September 4 the entire country celebrated Immigrant Day as a way to pay tribute to all who left their homelands to come to Argentina to settle.  The city of Concordia organizes the Provincial Immigrant Day Festival annually.  The festival that is celebrating its 23rd anniversary this year, will begin on Friday and will include activities in the streets as well as at the local Convention Center.

During the entire weekend, members of the local Colectividad Vasca Basque Club will be dedicated to guarantee the presence of the Basque culture at the festival.  Along with another 15 communities participating, they will have a stand on the Gastronomic Patio where they will provide typical dishes and information on the Basque Country.  The Gazte Lurra group, the club’s dancers, will also take the stage and perform dances during the festivities.

Also as part of the program of activities, the Queen of the Immigrants for 2016 will be chosen on Saturday the 10th.  During the selection process, the Basques will present Damaris Goñi as their candidate.  Finally, on Sunday the last day of the festival, there will be a parade through the streets of Concordia to the Convention Center where awards will be presented to the stands as well as parade participants.

Previous activities

For years, the Immigrant Festival has been preceded by the entire month of August being full of teaser activities for the Festival.  One of these, this year was that each queen candidate had to prepare a report showing her knowledge about the culture that she represents.  On behalf of the Basque club, Damaris Goñi presented a report on the culture, history and geography of the Basque Country, among other topics, to the organizing committee.

In regards to sports, this year the 3rd Inter-Community Soccer Tournament was held.  The Basque club team “Euskaldunak” was named the winner after winning every match in tournament play.