- The book and disco fair in Euskera has become a space to live “normally, quiet and natural” in Euskera. The event advances year after year and has become one of the most important events for the Basque people, according to the organizers of the fair. Sales have increased and the number of visitors has stabilised at 1,100 people.
The rain also failed to stop the fair of the book and album in Basque which is celebrated every first Saturday in June. On June 1, at Plaza de Ziburu, writers, comic book authors, artists and musicians from all over Euskal Herria met. The fifth edition organized by Baltsan Elkartea and ARGIA has become a market to live “normally, quietly and naturally” in Basque. Baltsan has declared that it has become a “respiratory center”, “without interference or linguistic stress of hegemonic discriminatory languages”.
The organization has appreciated the great participation of the visitors who attended the fair and the possibility to speak with authors or editors. The events carried out during the day filled the tents. Baltsan stressed that it was “a quality audience and a quality creation” and made a special mention to the students of the professional branch of the Bernat Etxepare, who showed people of all ages the technique of the Japanese haikus through the organized workshop.
In this edition sales have increased dramatically compared to last year, with 1,242 books sold (1,014 last year) and 146 records (84 last year). A total of 40 editorials were gathered at Plaza de Ziburu and 119 novelties at the counters. With regard to the number of visitors, the organization reports that in recent years the number of visitors has stabilized at 1,100. In the first edition of the fair, which had 16 editorials and nearly 400 visitors in a tent, the event has managed to occupy the entire plaza in recent years.
Build loyalty to success at the grassroots level
If it is a production fair entirely in Basque, the Fair of Ziburu has succeeded in succeeding in Basque occupying a town square and directing it to the whole of the Basque Country. The dynamics of the fair have spread to the towns of the neighborhoods – Azkaine, San Juan de Luz and Urruña – thanks to the celebration of the Fair the previous month. The organizers of the event have worked beyond the borders and in recent years have made great progress, such as the Network Doinuele created last year, the network of squares entirely in Basque. Baltsan has pointed out that in the fifth edition of the event the “closeness and warmth”, the basic characteristics of the fair, has been fulfilled and has thanked all the actors that have made it possible to organize it. They also report the date of the following year: It will take place on 7 June 2025.