Basque ethnography at a glance
Accordionists in Croatia (Split), 2013. Courtesy of the author.
The accordion is a musical instrument consisting of two wooden boxes. The musician uses the one on the right to play the main melody and the one on the left for the bass and the chords of the accompaniment. The bellows is between the two boxes. Accordionists use their arms to open and close the bellows to allow air to flow and vibrate the reeds in each of the wooden boxes to produce sound. There are two types of accordions, with buttons or keys on the right.
The accordion was brought to the Basque Country, as to many other places of Europe and the Americas, after the success of its invention in Vienna in 1829. The first accordion was brought here by the workers from the French and Italian Alps who came to lay the first railway tracks at the end of the 19th century.
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Inude eta Artzainak in Donostia. Source: Donostia Kultura.
Just as dance is at the heart of many celebrations, it also plays a leading role in the carnivals of Gipuzkoa. Although these lines are an approximation of the carnival dances of Gipuzkoa, it must be remembered that dances do not exist in a vacuum and are therefore inevitably intertwined with other elements of the carnival. For example, dancers may wear costumes, or dancing may take place while alms collecting.
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Libertimendua in Lekorne, 2023. Photo credit: Pantxix Bidart.
The Zuberoa masquerades, the cowbells (Joaldunak) of Ituren and Zubieta, the Lantz carnival… are well-known. That is not the case of Santibate (cowbell ringing) and Libertimendua, at least not outside Iparralde (the part of the Basque Country coming under France). There are two essential aspects to this carnival in Baja Navarra: Santibate’s night – the festivity of Zirtzilak (vagabonds) – and Libertimendua Day – the festivity of the Bolantes (courtship dancers) –. Young people go from house to house or from bar to bar in Santibate and spend the night singing or improvising bertsos (Basque improvised verse). Today’s article focuses on Libertimendua Day and we will leave Santibate for another occasion.
This festivity was reintroduced in the Garazi area by Antton Luku and was then brought to Donapaleu by Mattin Irigoien. It later spread to the Hergarai and Aldude valleys. It then crossed the border into Labourd and began to be celebrated in Makea, Lekorne, and the Luhuso area. And finally, the young people of Hazparne also began to celebrate it three or four years ago.
The holm oak is measured after the mass. Photo credit: Jon Urutxurtu.
St. Valentine’s Day, the day of lovers, is celebrated around the world on 14 February, but there are places where it is marked in a very particular way. One of them is the Eleizondo neighbourhood in Zeanuri (Bizkaia). This year they will celebrate it on 12 February – the Sunday before the 14th – with a modest, yet unique and engaging programme. It begins at 11.30 in the morning, with a mass at the Andra Mari parish church; a procession will then take the image of St. Valentine from the parish church to the chapel of Piety, where it will remain until the following year. The ceremony to measure the holm oak tree, standing in front of the chapel, will then take place. After the measurement has been duly recorded, the outgoing steward will pass the record book and the keys to the chapel to the incoming steward, who will be in charge of looking after the chapel throughout the year. The festivities will end with the barauskarria – a snack of bacon, pamitxa (traditional bread baked in the first batch) and wine – for all the people present.
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