Entertainment

Bertsolaris (poets who improvise verse in the Basque language), dantzaris (performers of folkloric dances), harrijasotzailes (stone-lifters) and aizkolaris (wood choppers). These are not strange beings, but modern Basques dedicated to preventing the disappearance of old traditions.

You can find all of these in any festival in the Basque Country, though outside the Basque lands they are mainly to be found at Jaialdi 2010, an International Basque cultural festival held in Boise, Idaho, during the last week of July. A festival which celebrates Basque culture through dance, song, music, education and food, attracting attendees from all over the world.

However, Jaialdi is not only about maintaining age-old traditions or remembering the country''s customs. The festival, although in some ways a reflection of old Basque traditions, is no stranger to 21st century innovation and mixes traditional events with innovative ways.

Pelota, probably the most popular Basque sport and the one with most followers, will be present at Jaialdi 2010, not only at the Anduiza Fronton, but also on the Internet, where games can we watched via live streaming on the website of the Basque Center.

The World Pilota Championship started in Boise on Sunday July 25th and goes on until Wednesday July 28th. On July 29th and 30th, the Boise Fronton Association will also be hosting the NABO Pilota Finals.

"The people of Boise are excited to host the World Pilota Championship games here in Boise. Pelota has become a very important part of the Boise Basque Community, and being able to see this level of players is educational and exciting," says Ysabel Bilbao, one of the organizers.

Jaialdi also has a presence among social networks. It is on Twitter and has a very active group on facebook , with more than 1700 members. ''Facebook has been really fun because people have been posting pictures from the last Jaialdi, writing in Spanish, Basque and English about how excited they are to come, it has been really great'', says Julie Hahn, one of the eleven members on the Jaialdi board.

According to Pedro J. Oiarzabal, a Research Scholar on ITCs and migration at the University of Deusto, Bilbao, the combination of social networks and the diaspora is nothing new. Since March 2009 the diaspora has formed 211 associations throughout twenty-four countries, of which 135 (or nearly 64%) have a cyberspace presence in twenty countries (or over 83% of the total).

''The Basque diaspora is utilizing the Web as a twenty-four-hour, easy-to-use, inexpensive platform to communicate, interact, maintain identity, create and recreate social ties and networks to both their homelands and co-diaspora communities regardless of geographical distance and time zones due to the low cost, effectiveness, and speed of the Internet'', the Basque scholar explains.

Being Basque continues to be about old traditions, but also about innovation.