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The motto of this year’s festival is “Independence,” alluding to the Bicentennial of the Declaration of Independence in Argentina.  On this occasion the Basque club in San Juan will join in the parade with a thematic float.  The float will carry a full-size 3D reproduction of Picasso’s Gernika, created by member Pablo Varela. The traditional Sun Festival will begin on Friday February 26 at 21:00. 

San Juan, Argentina.   In 2016 Argentina will celebrate the Bicentennial of its Declaration of Independence and in hopes of vindicating the values set on July 9, 1816, the National Sun Festival will carry this as its motto.  

Invited every year to represent the Basque community, the Basque club will again return with an original proposal regarding the theme.  The Basque float this year will be a 3D reproduction of Picasso’s Gernika, with its original colors and dimensions.  The work will be presented within a structure framed in red that represented, in the words of the creative manager of design and realization, Pablo Varela, as “the cruelty of war.”

“At the request of the club, the float will also have a representation of the Tree of Gernika, with a natural trunk and lights,” Varela explained to EuskalKultura,com.  Member of the club and in charge of creating the club’s float, Varela has been working for weeks on the design and assembly of the float, a task that he is accompanied in by artist Gabriela Gomez Oliva.

The Carousel of the Sun will run through the Avenida Ignacio de la Roza in San Juan, between Mendoza and Urquiza streets.  The parade will also pass in front of the official stand, where the dantzaris will perform some of their most characteristic dances for the judges.  Besides participating in the parade, the club will also be in charge of a culture stand at the fairgrounds that is also part of the festival.

The National Sun Festival  in San Juan will take place on February 23-27.  The parade that will include more than 25 floats and will cover 2 kilometers, will be held on Friday beginning at 9pm.