Skakeitan, Izaro and Bulego head the line-up for the 2nd edition of the Bite Basque Beat Festival

The Bite Basque Beat Festival is back in Finland with concerts by Skakeitan, Izaro and Bulego. The festival runs from August 30th to September 3rd with two major developments this year. First, it will be hosted in two cities: Tampere and Helsinki, and second, in addition to the concerts, this year there will be dantzaris and musicians, offering music and dance classes, as well as street parades. Promoted by the Etxepare Basque Institute and Basking Food & Culture, Bite Basque Beat is promoted by the Regional Council of Bizkaia and Musika Bulegoa to further the international presence of Basque creators and artists.

Gatibu, Zetak and Olatz Salvador headed up the festival’s first edition. This year, Izaro, Skakeitan and Bulego are heading to Finland. Bite Basque Beat will kick off on 30 August, with events following the same format in Tampere and Helsinki. Each city will host a two-day programme. The first day will feature classes and street parades, and on the second day, concerts. These live performances will take place on August 31st at G Live Lab in Tampere and at Heidi´s in Helsinki on September 2nd.

In addition to the events in Tampere on August 30 and 31, this year´s Bite Basque Beat Festival will be held in Helsinki on September 1st and 2nd. Finnish artist Antti Koivula will perform alongside the Basque bands in Helsinki. Antti is a well-known Finnish artist who sings in Suomi. Basque artists will have the opportunity to talk to him about the importance and difficulties of singing in a minority language, among other topics, in a round table discussion prior to the concerts on September 2nd.

This Finnish Basque music festival grew out of the annual Tamperrada pintxo championship held since 2013. Together with 62 participating bars and restaurants, Tamperrada was first organized by Mikko Reinikka, a passionate fan of the Basque language and culture. Seeing that Basque gastronomy is very popular in Finland, last year he decided to take a leap and organise a music festival parallel to the culinary competition. In this edition, workshops and parades around Basque music for the Basque community in Finland will be added to the programme.

Izaro, Bulego and Skakeitan

Izaro Andrés recently filled San Sebastian’s velodrome in Anoeta with her concert this past May 7^th. Presenting her new album ´Limones de oro´ (2022), Andrés filled the venue with an audience of 6,000, the biggest ever for a female soloist in the Basque Country. She started singing in bars in 2014 and has since released three albums: ´Om´ (2016), ´Eason´ (2018) and ´Limones en invierno´ (2020).

The pop band Bulego was founded in January 2019 as a multidisciplinary project. Its members are Tomas Lizarazu (vocals and guitar), Xabi Arrieta (drums), Jontxu Ape (bass), Ruben Lizarralde (guitar) and Itziar Beitia (keyboards). So far, they have released three albums: ´Bulego´ (2020), ´Ilun dago´ (2020), and ´Erdian orain´ (2021). The five-person band creates very danceable and successful pop music full of positive energy.

Skakeitan is a well-known band that is bidding farewell this year after 14 years playing together. Formed in 2008, the group is Pello Armendariz (vocals), Borja Anton (guitar), Asier Iriondo (bass and backing vocalist), Olatz Salvador (keyboards and backing vocalist), Julen Idigoras (drums), Aitor Valcarlos (trombone), Gorka Valcarlos (trumpet) and Ander Zabala (trombone and backing vocalist). Among the band’s latest work is ´Galera´ (2016), ´Galera beats´ (2017), ´Nola galdu denbora´ (2019), and ´Eman ez genuen kontzertua´ (2021).