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The festival will take place tomorrow on the “Paseo de los Artesanos,” and will be attended by Basque club representatives from Bariloche, Córdoba, Pergamino, Viedma and San Martín de los Andes.  “There will be Basque and Argentine dancing, videos, information about the Basques and the Basque Country and of course, various pintxos for the guests."  "It will be a complete success,” Rafa Molina, main organizer of the event told EuskalKultura.com. 

Neuquen, Argentina.   The first informative meeting was held in Neuquen in February regarding establishing the Comahue Basque club - Comahue is a region in the Andean provinces of Neuquen and Rio Negro.  From that moment, and encouraged by Rafa Molina a native from Durango in the Basque Cuntry, a group of Basques, Basque descendants and Basque culture sympathizers began to attend events that were the first steps in this laborious yet exhilarating task.

Now, under the name of the Euskal Etxea of Comahue, the Basque club will be presented to the city of Neuquen and the whole Diaspora.  To do this, members have organized a festival that will include music, dances, videos and informative pamphlets, as well as Basque food.  

“We are currently working hard so nothing is missing.  The festival will be in the middle of the city on the Paseo de los Artesansos, next to the municipality.  We met with the city’s secretary of culture and they have been completely cooperative and have helped with everything that we need.  It is also possible that the secretary of culture as well as the local mayor will attend the festivities,” Molina said.

They are expecting hundreds of participants and some of them will cover hundreds and even mote that one thousand kilometers to attend.  Representatives from the following Basque clubs have already confirmed their attendance: Córdoba, Bariloche, Pergamino, Viedma and San Martín de los Andes.  “One of the challenges we resolved is how to host everyone who comes, but we have also foreseen this.  We don´t have a dance group yet and some of the guests will dance, some delegations come with dancers and they will be in charge of dancing during the festival,” he explains.

In addition to Basque dances there will be a fusion of the two cultures that are implied at a Basque club, so the festival program will also include a sample of Argentine folklore and tango. “The expectations are very high and we think that this event will be a complete success.  Once it is over, we will continue working, but more specifically on finding a locale and beginning our own activities,” Molina said.

The event will take place on April 8 from 18-23hs, at the Paseo de los Artesanos in Neuquen, located on Avenida Argentina, on the side of the municipality.

First food sales

Without a doubt, the preparation and sale of food has become a frequent activity of many Basque clubs who have realized that they are a good funding source.  The Comahue Euskal Etxea has joined this group and on March 20 they organized a roasted chicken sale.  “It was a great experience,” Molina said, “but not only in the amount sold, more than 100, but it also allowed us to see that we can delegate tasks and work as a team,” he concluded.