- This year’s Bertsolaris National Championship will be the tenth and the final will be played for the first time in Navarre. 42 bertsolaris and tickets are already on sale in fourteen sessions throughout the Basque Country. The quarterfinals will start on 24 September in Getxo, they will join the semi-finals that will start on 22 October to the five bertsolaris that sang in the final of the previous tournament, and to the seven who get the final pass they will expect in the Nafarroa Arena of Pamplona the previous champion, Maialen Lujanbio.
Like the Olympics, the Euskal Herria Championship is held every four years, but the pandemic crossed its path and this tenth tournament will be held at the age of five. Sessions can be enjoyed at the following locations (see the calendar of all sessions here): Getxo, Arrasate-Mondragón, Gotinea, Vitoria-Gasteiz, Donostia-San Sebastián, Estella, Elizondo, Donibane Garazi, Irún, Durango, Amurrio, Baiona, Bilbao and Pamplona.
These fourteen sessions will be organized in three phases. The first phase will be the quarter-finals and will consist of six sessions, starting on 24 September and with a weekly session. The semi-finals will then be played the 19 bertsolaris to be classified and the finalists of the previous edition will be Unai Agirre, Amets Arzallus, Subai Colina, Aitor Mendiluze and Beñat Gaztelumendi. These semi-finals will begin on 22 October and will consist of four sessions. The 18 bertsolaris that get the most points from the 24 that have come here will have the opportunity to sing in the second round of the semifinals: the second round of the semifinals will be composed of three performances that will start on 19 November. Finally, Maialen Lujanbio, former champion, and the other seven classified bertsolaris, will play the final on December 18 at the Nafarroa Arena in Pamplona.
Bertsolaris participants
These are the bertsolaris who, having reached the final of the previous Euskal Herria Championship or reaching the highest positions of the championship in each country, will act this year in the Basque Country (here are shown): Agin Laburu, Aitor Bizkarra, Aitor Etxebarriazarraga, Aitor Mendiluze, Alaia Martin, Amaia Iturrioz, Amets Arzallus, Ane Labaka, Asier Azpiroz, Beñat Gaztelumendi, Eñat Iguaran, Koreaut
Tickets already on sale
All tickets are now for sale on the portal bertsosarrerak.eus. Bertsozale Elkartea’s partners will be guaranteed the option to purchase the final entry until 30 June. Tickets for the final will also be on sale until 30 June at the headquarters of the Navarra Association of Bertsolaris (from 10:00 to 14:00 and from 16:00 to 18:00, except the weekend).
Bertsolaris recovering from the pandemic
The Basque Herria Championship is organized by the Bertsozale Elkartea Association and its partner Gontzal Agote has pointed out that the situation of bertsolarism has been revitalizing since the pandemic: "The situation has improved and that gives joy. They're good data from the last few months. However, we are still attentive to the march of the Bertsos square, because the consequences of the pandemic have not yet completely disappeared, and because the current situation of bertsolaris is reflected in it.”
Idoia Trenor has stated that Bertsolarism "is very present in the entire territory of the Basque Country". And he adds: "It's important to explain where that vitality comes from. The championship is not an isolated act, it is the result of the daily work and with a lot of effort that is done from a young age”. highlighted the work carried out both in the educational field and in the square, with six Bertsolarism Amateur Associations, Lanku Cultural Services and the Xenpelar Documentation Centre.