News

The event that sparked the creation of the Basque Club was an inadvertently interrupted bertso performance by legendary bertsolariak Xalbador &' || 'amp; Mattin when they were visiting California in 1960.

To commemorate this event and to pay tribute to Xalbador &' || 'amp; Mattin and Euskara (the Basque language) a full blown ninety minute bertso performance will be exhibited at the San Francisco Basque Cultural Center with all four active US bertsolariak (Johnny Curutchet, Gratien Alfaro, Jesus Goñi &' || 'amp; Martin Goicoechea) along with the two biggest names in Bertsolartitza from the Basque Country, the newly crowned Champion, Maialen Lujanbio and the past four time champion, Andoni Egaña.

A dinner will follow the bertso performance at 7:00pm ($25).

In June of 1960, the renowned bertsulari from the Basque Country, Xalbador and Mattin, were invited to attend the annual Les Jardiniers picnic as part of their California tour. The picnic took place in Saratoga, at the Saratoga Wild Wood Park (known today as Saratoga Springs), and those attending were mainly Basques and Bearnais. During an intermission, Xalbador and Mattin took the stage to perform a few improvised songs. Power to the microphone was interrupted during the singing, and the performance was cut short much to the dismay of the Basques.

Later that same evening, a group of young Basques met at Hotel de France in San Francisco. They began discussing the possibility of creating a club of their own, one that would unite the Basques in the area, and allow them to actively continue traditions from home, such as their love of music and dance.