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Donostia-San Sebastian.  In many Basque clubs in the Diaspora Christmas is way ahead of schedule, in hopes of gathering the larges number of members possible before vacations, and family time begin.

In London, for example, the Christmas party at the London Basque Society took place on December 15, with a meal that was attended by a large number of members and friends.  Everyone was surprised by the Olentzero who came with his friend Mari Domingi, and who passed out gifts to those present.  The club published several photos of the even on its Facebook page, as well as uploading this video:

Olentzero also has visited other clubs around the world, among which are some in Argentina like Beti Aurrera in Chivilcoy.  The Basque coal maker appeared at their Christmas dinner and went table to table with gifts for the smallest in the crowd.  The Basque club uploaded this video of the event: 

In the US, one club that never misses an appointment with the genius of Basque Christmas is the Euskal Etxea in Washington DC, who for another year gathered young and old alike to greet him.  The youngest set really enjoyed his visit and the presents that he brought with him, almost as much as their parents did, exited to see how happy their children were to see such an endearing character for Basques around the world. The Basque club published a complete photo album on Picasa.  

At the Basque Cultural Center in San Francisco, on the other hand, gifts are traditionally passed out by Santa Claus, even though he sometimes gets help from his friend the Olentzero.  The Basque club celebrated its big party where the children of the entity participated by staging a human nativity scene.  Their photos are here.

-If you have photos, videos or other information about a celebration in your euskal etxea, please email it to: info@euskalkultura.com.  We would be happy to publish it.