Intauriak // Carnavales in Basque Country

I know--it happened in February. The following paragraph was written Tuesday 21 February 2012.

Where to begin? In Euskal Herria, Carnavales is una locura. It began on Thursday and ended today. The first Carnavales festivity I saw was Friday in a shopping area of Donostia: there was a troupe of about 20 pairs and a band performing. The dancers were dressed in 1850s attire with fake flowers all over their dresses and suits. They did a few circle dances.

...Alright that is all I wrote during Carnavales. My memory is now a bit foggy, but hopefully some images will help. On Saturday we began our participation in Irún's carnavales. About 10 of us American students marched as cabezudos (big heads). We each had a character head and costume, and a broom to beat children with. Of course, children don't see cabezudos everyday, so for some of them it was scary. On top of that, this big-headed person coming at them with a broom?! I enjoyed walking behind my friend Autumn because she made a few kids cry haha. Some of them would provoke us to hit them; a few even shook their buts at us so we whacked them with the broom. I was cracking up inside of that big head because it was such an amusing experience. Most kids I just poked at instead of swatting. Later, our teacher told us that some people commented that the cabezudos this year were very friendly, and almost pushovers. That came as a relief since some of the parents and children acted like we had scarred them for life!

Before I go any further, I should make the comparison of Carnavales to Halloween. When we marched all of the children were dressed up watching the parade. Many of the adults were too. There were also many group costumes among teenagers (with their cuadrillas, undoubtedly) such as packs of Harry Potters, Robin Hoods/Peter Pans, Mexicans, etc.

Although we were the  most interactive part of the Irún parade, there were other groups too. We were after the joaldunak, a traditional representation of Basque carnavales. They are dressed in sheepskin, with a big copper bell roped to their back. They move so that their bell clanks to the beat. We saw them suiting up for this position: not something you'd want to do after eating. To make sure the rope is nice and tight, whoever is helping you into it puts their foot into your side as you kneel. In the olden days, the joaldunak wouldn't eat for days, because they would always be tied to the bells and would parade throughout the town, trying to wake up the dying sun with their ruckus.

We came before the jentiliak, giants. The main giant this year was a bunny coming out of a magician's hat. (We were fortunate enough to interview its creator back at the beginning of February). There were 4 other jentilliak, about 12 feet high. They were moved by a person who acted as their legs, carrying a jentilia on his/her shoulders and prancing around, hidden by the jentiliak's clothing. Further behind them were dance groups of schools, who had different themes and coordinated dances. There was a giant group that danced to Sister Act--funny to see about 200 kids dressed as nuns.

After the parade Saturday we were invited to the Gastronomic Society  of basically the chief of Carnavales operations: Manolo. We definitely made buddies with this guy, he is very Basque, knows a lot of people, and enjoys sharing the culture with "las americanas". Eating at the Society was an experience and honor in itself. Such a great ambience, I will not soon forget their hospitality. We were also invited to lunch the next day, before marching as buruhandi/ cabezudos again. That was a stellar Carnavales experience--to actually participate in the festivities instead of merely watching.

Monday some friends and I crammed into the train with many other Donostiarras to Tolosa! Essentially it is known as the capital of Basque carnaval festivities. It was entertaining to see a group of old ladies dressed in matching costumes on the train--everybody participates in Carnavales around here! What was even better was that she was joking around with a teenager dressed as a goth with creepy contact lenses haha. Tolosa had a great ambience, as we were told it would. Everybody was dresssed up. Everyone. There was a parade, a row of vendors, and Carnival attractions (rides, fried food stands, games with prizes). Also there were a few bands that marched around, and anyone could join in on the mini-parade. I barely remember the rhythm, but there was a song where everybody ducked for a bit and then jumped up. Oleee Carnavales!!


Tuesday Carnavales ended. There was a funeral for it, really. It was called burying the sardine. They had a big model of a fish  which they processsed to its death. The people in the procession were dressed in black and (fake) sobbing. At the end the crowd was led to an opening where the sardine and the jentilia from before were burned. While it was up in flames, a group started to dance in circles around it. And that concluded one heck of a holiday.