Euskaldunberris

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Tribute to new Basque speakers in Donostia

The Basque government has organised a bilingual show with actors, singers, dancers and "bertsolaris" that kicked off at 12:00 pm at the Kursaal Auditorium and Congress Centre.

The Basque government celebrates on Sunday the International Basque Language Day with a show at the Kursaal Auditorium and Congress Centre in Donostia-San Sebastian. During the event, Basque Premier Juan Jose Ibarretxe will present the Ukan Awards to recognise the effort of the 'euskaldunberris' (those who have learned Basque as adults).

The programme of activities was introduced in Gipuzkoa's capital on November 29th by the Deputy councillor for Language Planning, Patxi Baztarrika; the consultant of the department, Lorea Bilbao; and the director for promoting the Basque language, Igone Etxebarria. The promotion campaign is entitled "Ukan, el virus de la convivencia" (Ukan, the Virus for Coexistence).

The deputy councillor underlined that the message they are trying to put across is based on two pillars: "coexistence and linguistic plurality".

Baztarrika stated that "coexistence is the most important objective in any society, and equality is the way". Likewise, he explained that "the disappearance or the weakening of a language is similar to the disappearance of a species".

The deputy councillor also stressed that "languages are the tools for the integration and preservation of the mutual respect" and therefore, "it would be ridiculous to brand the promoting of the Basque language as being detrimental to Spanish or French".

Sunday's show at the Kursaal Auditorium and Congress Centre in Donostia-San Sebastian will be bilingual and full of activities with actors, singers, dancers and "bertsolaris" (poets who improvise in the Basque language).

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