Boise, ID.¿ Dan Ansotegui has been named a recipient of the 2004 Governor¿s Awards in the Arts, in the Excellence in Folk and Traditional Arts category. These biennial awards were established in 1970 by the Idaho Commission on the Arts to elevate recognition and awareness of Idaho arts and artists. Idaho was among the first in the nation to establish such a program.

Jurors review the nominations and offer their recommendations to the commissioners, who then forward their selections for the governor's independent decision. The recipients will join Governor Dirk and First Lady Patricia Kempthorne in a public celebration on Saturday, October 2 at 6:00 p.m. at the Warhawk Air Museum, 201 Municipal, Nampa, Idaho. Tickets for the general public will be available starting August 16. For additional information call the Idaho Commission on the Arts, 208-334-2119.

In 2003, Ansotegui was also awarded an Idaho Heritage Award, again by the Idaho Commission on the Arts, for his contributions to the continuation of Basque Trikitixa, a combination of button accordion and tambourine (pandareta) music. Dan himself is a Boise native, but both sets of his grandparents came from the Basque Country, namely from Ibarrangelu and Algorta.

Photo: by Joseba Etxarri, courtesy of Basque Heritage (www.basqueheritage.com).

Boise, ID.¿ The Boise Basque community is once again preparing itself to host Jaialdi 2005, or Jaialdi 5, as it is also known. The event will take place July 27-31, 2005 at various venues in the Boise area including evening events on the Basque Block.

The first Jaialdi took place in 1987, at the suggestion of Jokin Intxausti, the Basque Government¿s international representative at the time. Intxausti met Gerri Achurra and Albert Erquiaga, at a NABO meeting in 1985 and encouraged them to organize an event to celebrate and promote Basque culture. The first festival, co-sponsored by Euzkaldunak, Inc. and the Oinkari Basque Dancers, was so successful that it was held again in 1990. After the success of this event, it was decided to hold it once every five years from then on. Jaialdi 2000 was attended by an estimated 30,000 people from all over the world.

This year¿s Jaialdi will again feature, sportsmen, and dance and music groups from the U.S. and abroad.

For a complete schedule of events and information regarding Jaialdi 2005 refer to www.jaialdi.com.

Bogota.- The Health councillor of the Basque Country Gabriel Maria Inclan arrived in the Colombian capital last Wednesday, invited by the Basque Centre Euskal Etxea Foundation from Colombia, organiser of the first Colombian-Basque meeting that is being developed from the end of August in several Colombian villages.

Gabriel Maria Inclan, apart from participating in the Basque week, will sign a consultancy agreement on health matters with the mayor of Bogota, city that, with eight million citizens, has to face, specially, the problems the long waiting lists and the lack of beds in hospitals represent. Through this protocol, the Basque Government pretends to make its initiatives known and help to alleviate these problems in Colombia.

Furthermore, the Basque Health Minister will gather with the Health Minister from Colombia. The members of congress and senators who have Basque surnames will toast to him with a glass of wine in the Congress. At last, Inclan will lecture in the Health Department of Bogota, with the attendance of hospital directors, on the support of the protocol. Finally, Gabriel Maria Inclan will travel to Cartagena de Indias.

Regarding the First Colombian-Basque Meeting, the acts that stand out are the Gastronomic Festival, the Basque Cinema Show and the presentation of Basque books, apart from the signing of the Health matters consultancy agreement.