Basque festivals, also known as ''Euskal jaiak'', are festivals celebrating

Basque culture The Basques ( or ; eu, euskaldunak ; es, vascos ; french: basques ) are a Southwestern European ethnic group, characterised by the Basque language, a common culture and shared genetic ancestry to the ancient Vascones and Aquitanians. Bas ...

, including Basque dance, Basque cuisine, Basque sports, and elements of Basque folklore. Basque festivals are organized in the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

in towns with an important population of Basque descendants, such as Elko,

Reno Reno ( ) is a city in the northwest section of the U.S. state of Nevada, along the Nevada-California border, about north from Lake Tahoe, known as "The Biggest Little City in the World". Known for its casino and tourism industry, Reno is the ...

, Winnemucca, Bakersfield, Chino,

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, and

Boise Boise (, , ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Idaho and is the county seat of Ada County. On the Boise River in southwestern Idaho, it is east of the Oregon border and north of the Nevada border. The downtown area' ...

. The first Western Basque Festival was held in Sparks, Nevada, on June 6–7 1956. Elko hosts one of the largest Basque Festivals in the United States, second only to Boise's world famous Jaialdi, held roughly every five years around the 4th of July weekend. Similar festivals are celebrated in

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and other countries where

Basque diaspora The Basque diaspora is the name given to describe people of Basque origin living outside their traditional homeland on the borders between Spain and France. Many Basques have left the Basque Country for other parts of the globe for economic a ...

is set. Basque festivals are also celebrated in the Basque Country: ''Euskal Jaiak'' celebrations in September in Donostia and

Zarautz Zarautz (, es, Zarauz) is a coastal town located in central Gipuzkoa, Basque Country, in Spain. It is bordered by Aia to the east and the south and Getaria to the west, located about west of San Sebastián. It has four enclaves limiting the ...

are famous. Dates of basque festivals in the United States often correspond with a saint's day in the Basque Country. Early examples of Basque festivals date from the late 19th century, when the Lore Jokoak, or Basque

Floral Games Floral Games were any of a series of historically related poetry contests with floral prizes. In Occitan, their original language, and Catalan they are known as '' Jocs florals'' (; modern Occitan: ''Jòcs florals'' , or ''floraus'' ). In French ...

came into being in French-Spanish bordering areas of Navarre, Labourd, and Gipuzkoa, fostered and encouraged by

Antoine d'Abbadie Antoine Thomson d'Abbadie d'Arrast (3 January 1810 – 19 March 1897) was an Irish-born French explorer, geographer, ethnologist, linguist and astronomer notable for his travels in EthiopiaAlthough referred to as Ethiopia here, the region that ...

and other cultural figures.

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Basque culture {{festival-stub