With the aim of "promoting the presence and use of the Basque language in the context of the festivities", the Basque Language Council of Aiaraldea, in collaboration with City Councils and associations, will continue this year on the same path that started last year. For another year, Gora Aiaraldea’s Basque Fiestas have launched the dynamic, posing a new challenge to their minds: to implement the initiative more effectively and to get more actors involved.

Learning from the experience

The experience of the Basque Department of the City Council of Orduña in recent years is based on the dynamic that has now spread throughout the region. Last year the Basque Council of Ayala held a public presentation of the project in Arespalditza, on the eve of the Ayala Fiestas. Representatives from Laudio, Orduña, Orozco, Arrankudiaga-Zollo, Ayala and Artziniega joined the dynamic. Over the past year, several actors have also joined the project, such as the Junta Pro Fiestas Popular de Amurrio and the Txosnagunea.

This year, the Gora Aiaraldea Basque Festival Dynamics aims to increase this list of agents and Town Halls. At this point there are new entities that have joined the project, such as the Festive Rocket Coordinator of Laudio.

The linguistic landscape

The dynamic of the Aiaraldea Basque Council aims to preserve and influence the linguistic landscape of the festivities. "Beyond the proclamation, the intention is to shake the consciences and strengthen the offer in Basque." This was explained by the members of the council during the training session held last April 9 with representatives and municipal agents.

To do this, they will design and create different resources adapted to the spaces and agents that make up the festive ecosystem.

On the one hand, they will create general campaign supports so that the slogans and slogans that support the use of the Basque language occupy the center of the party. Giant banners, stickers, reusable glasses, balloons... The first word (and the rest) in Basque will be extended to the citizens who will attend to enjoy the festivities.

The council will also implement measures to guarantee the presence of Basque speakers in all festive events as part of the Gora Aiaraldea Euskalduak campaign. "We are talking about language rights. It is essential that the speaker is at least bilingual and always give priority to the Basque language", said the representatives of the Basque Language Council. It is up to the municipalities that are aligned with the campaign to comply with this requirement, and when it is not possible to offer support and resources to associations.

Criteria of language

In order to respect the linguistic rights in the txosnages and bars that are the main areas of the festivities, the linguistic criteria have been included as part of the campaign. To this end, the City Councils will transmit a report with the language criteria to be met to the agents and associations that put it to the test.

Among other things, all the rounds of the txosnagune will require the presence of some bilingual person, as well as the presence in Basque of the elements that make up the linguistic landscape. They will also pay attention to music, ensuring that the presence of Basque music is 65% throughout the txosnen schedule.

The campaign will also target guests and bartenders in the same way, so that these establishments also meet the linguistic criteria and respect the rights of Basque speakers.