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As part of the Aberri Eguna (day of the Basque Homeland) festivities, the Havana Basque club has organized, starting today through Sunday, the “Habanako Euskal Astea” “aimed at celebrating and sharing with friends, fellow Cubans and visitors, this day in the way that Basques do.” 

Havana, Cuba.   This Monday through Sunday, the Havana Basque club has organized a week of cultural activities, both leisure and festive aimed at celebrating and sharing with fellow Basques and Cubans, friends and visitors that wish to join in the Aberri Eguna festivities.  The Basque language will be the focus of many activities including Basque Week in general as club president, Renato Garcia Egusquiza told EuskalKultura.com.

The first event will take place today at 6pm with Basque language students participating in a Mother Language party and for the Day of the Homeland with snacks, toasts and Basque music at the provisional clubhouse of the club.

On Tuesday and Wednesday, starting at 6pm, there will be a friendly soccer tournament among the Basque team and other local ones. The name of the Basque soccer team is “Vasco-Navarra FC,” but that will soon be renamed Euskeria, taking back the name of the famous pioneers of the twentieth century in Cuba – the other three teams are coming from other Havana neighborhoods. 

On Friday, the program will begin at 4:30pm with a talk by Fr. Txema entitled, “Euskera, the Identity of a Country,” also at the provisional clubhouse.

Saturday at 4pm there will be a Mus contest and dinner at a venue to be specified.

The activities will conclude on Sunday with the celebration of Aberri Eguna with an expected Attendance of 250 people – including nearly 50 Basques visiting Cuba in this vacational time – in an event that will include commemorations, music, bertsos, song and a meal.  

The day will begin at 11:30 with an Agurra and an official presentation, followed by the celebration of Korrika, that will join this way with other Korrika events celebrated throughout the Diaspora over the last two weeks, supporting the Basque language.

Leading Korrika in Havana will be club elder members and Basque descendants that are over the age of 75, followed by guests, then Basque language students, players of the Basque club soccer team, and the youngest of the association bringing up the rear.   Two photo exhibits , entitled “Basques in Cuba, Yesterday and Today,” and “Images of the Basque Country” will be displayed. Documentaries will also be shown throughout the day on Basque geography and culture.

As in prior editions, on Sunday, Aberri Eguna festivities will take place at the “Casa de La Amistad con los Pueblos,” in Havana.