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The Basque club that gathers the Basque communities in Viedma and Carmen de Patagones, at North Patagonia, has turned 20 and to celebrate has carried out a large program of events over the last two weeks.  Now, to conclude the festivities and to commemorate the International Day of Euskera, the Leneas group, at the heart of the club, will present the theater work “Women in Berrigorria,” by Victor Ruiz Añibarro.

Viedma, Argentina.   The county of Viedma and Carmen de Patagones will conclude its festivities commemorating the 20th anniversary of its Basque club, this Saturday, December 3rd, Euskera Day with an interesting proposal.  The Leanas group, comprised expressly to perform this work, will present “Women in Berigorria,” by Gipuzkoan writer Victor Ruiz Añibarro who was exiled in Argentina in 1938.  The theater group is comprised of Basque club members, including its director, ‘Negrita’ Handia.

The pre-debut of “Women in Berrigorria,” will take place on Saturday at 8:30pm in the hall of the Colegio María Auxiliadora in Viedma.

20 years of history

Anniversary activities at the Basque club began on November 14th with a tribute to its founding members. The event began with an address from the current president, Raul Goicoechea, and continued with a gift presented to each of those members who gave life to the club.  Afterwards, Professor Mikel Ezkerro gave a talk entitled, “The Mystery of the Origin of the Basque,” to a large audience.  The ceremony took place at the Hall of the Concejo Deliberante in Viedma.

The festivities continued on November 21st, the date that the club inaugurated a photo exhibit “Our Basques and the Path Travelled.”  As Maria del Carmen Elzaurdia explained to EuskalKultura.com, “to create the exhibit, we made a public call that enjoyed a great response.  We were able to gather very valuable material, including the sheet music of a song from the year 1919, about a group of Basques that gathered to honor their roots.  The music came from the descendants of its composer.  We also have a picture from 1954, from a Basque gathering here and in Bahia.  It was beautiful since some of the members from the Union Vasca who came this weekend recognized the photo,” she said.

The festivities continued last weekend with a dinner that gathered representatives from the Basque club in Bahia Blanca, and mass and plaza dancing on Sunday morning.  Due to the bad weather, the music and dance show planned for Saturday afternoon could not take place in its entirety, although there was plenty of music and dancing at dinner attended by more than 200 people.