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Donostia-San Sebastian.  For another year San Fermin was celebrated with great excitement in the Diaspora, with the added incentive of the big day, July 7, falling on a Saturday, the day chosen by the majority of Basque clubs to celebrate the feast day.  That’s how the members of London’s Basque Society did it, for example, as they gathered at the Basque club to celebrate their own “encierro.”  As years passed, the Basque-London group re-baptized one of the adjacent streets, Estafeta, in honor of the legendary stretch of Pamplona’s “encierro.”  After a tour of the bars in the area, the party continued to London Fields Park where there were games, music and great atmosphere.  The Basque club sent us this video of the festivities:

There was an “encierro” in Carabobo, Venezuela even if it was carried out with calves.  Carabobo’s Basque club has been celebrating this feast since 1975, and it is one of their most anticipated events, thanks to the exhibition of the calves where youth and adults get in the ring to fight them.  Illargi Uzcanga, the club’s vice-president, explained, “this kind of event is very important because it allows us to maintain continuity with the traditions and in that way the youth can get to know their roots better.”

From two in the afternoon, attendees, dressed in White with red neckerchiefs, could enjoy the exquisite cuisine with paella, chistorra, tripe and the inevitable wine on their tables.  During the celebration visitors could enjoy the exhibit with five calves, while the hymn of San Fermin and the sounds of rockets announced the entrance of the youth who dared to try their bullfighting tricks for more than three hours.

[One of the participants just misses being hit by one of the claves during San Fermin at Carabobo’s Euskal Etxea (photo Carabobo EE)]

[Youth were not lacking in the one hundred plus participants, testimony to their inherited passion for San Fermin (photo CaraboboEE)]

In Sydney, the Gure Txoko Basque club gathered a hundred members and friends ready to enjoy one of the most exciting club events.  As every year, the menu included Bacaloa ajoarriero and chops, and the festivities continued until dawn.

[The meal and party that followed took place in Gure Txoko’s frontón (photo Sydney EE)]

[Cooks preparing Bacalao ajorarriero, one of the most anticipated dishes of the event (photo Sydney EE)]

Finally, Mexico City’s euskal etxea also celebrated with a meal that was served int he center’s frontón, the scene of great celebrations.  There numerous members gathered and enjoyed a lively dinner that was not lacking in songs about San Fermin.