Etxepare Basque Institute to visit the North American Basque Organizations annual convention

NABO will celebrate its annual convention on May 25^th and 26^th in Bakersfield, California, and Irene Larraza, director of the Etxepare Basque Institute, will be there. The visit will allow her to some headway in promoting Basque culture and language in North America.

NABO will celebrate its annual convention on May 25^th and 26^th in Bakersfield, California, and Irene Larraza, director of the Etxepare Basque Institute, will be there. The visit will allow her to some headway in promoting Basque culture and language in North America.

NABO is a federation of Basque North American organizations whose function is to promote Basque culture and identity. Since 1979, NABO has organized an annual convention in a different North American city each year. The purpose of the convention is to bring together all the clubs in a celebratory event so they can share experiences and knowledge, while enjoying a festive programme in support of Basque culture.

Larraza will give a talk to introduce the role and tasks of the Etxepare Basque Institute. Afterwards, she will have a meeting with the people in charge of the North American Euskara Munduan (a programme that coordinates all the Basque language classes at the Euskal Etxeak, or Basque Centers, around the world), to work out the final details. Larraza will also sign an agreement with NABO to guarantee a teacher training meeting in Bakersfield in the future.

The annual NABO convention will coincide with the Basque festival. So besides talks and meetings, there will be plenty of time for fun. The web site announces a full programme, including a mus competiton, Txerri-Besta Pork-fest Contest, plus dancing and music.

Taking advantage of the journey, the director of Etxepare will make progress on several tasks related to promoting Basque language and culture. First, she will meet with the Basque language and culture readers at UCLA in Los Angeles and UCSB in Santa Barbara to see how their teaching programmes are going. Larraza will also arrange meetings with the California State University of Bakersfield, the Kern County Basque Club, and the Boise Basque Festival 2020.