As part of the Day of Cultural Diversity festivities, the Argentine city of 9 de Julio organized its 2nd Meeting of Communities, with the participation of communities from Italy, Japan, Spain, Ireland and the Basque Country. To strengthen the presence of the Basque community, two Basque clubs attended the festival: the local Etxe Maitea Basque club and guests, dantzaris from the Beti Aurrera Basque club in Chivilcoy.
9 de Julio, Argentina. The festival organized by the city of 9 de Julio in the province of Buenos Aires, to celebrate the Day of Cultural Diversity was divided in two parts. On the one hand, there were food/cultural stands at the Municipal Gallery, where each participating group shared with visitors their customs, traditions, memories and symbols. On the other hand, there was a stage in the Blanco Hall, for music, dance and theater exhibitions.
The Basque participation at the 2nd Meeting of Communities included a stand by the Etxe Maitea Basque club that displayed representative objects form the Basque culture and the Basque Country. As Maria Esther 'The Basque' Beascochea told EuskalKultura.com, “at the stand we displayed an Ikurriña, maps, a zahato, a txapela and informational brochures. We also had an image of the Virgin of Arantzazu and the words to the Basque National Anthem. Our club isn’t big, we are few workers, but nevertheless we displayed what we had. Many people visited our stand.”
For include a more complete image of the Basque Country, Etxe Maitea invited the dancers from the Beti Aurrera Basque club in Chivilcoy to dance at the event. The event united various artistic expressions from various nationalities and the youth from Chivilcoy danced a representative repertoire of Basque dances.