Dancing with the Basques: Traditional street dancing shines at Jaialdi 2025
Over a thousand people gathered in Boise’s Basque Block for the third day of Jaialdi. The Basque Block became a meeting ground for Basques, Basque-Americans and people who just wanted to join in on the fun.
Traditional Basque music filled the air, and dancing flooded the street on Thursday, the third day of the six-day festival, as attendees took part in all things Basque. It was the first Jaialdi (hi-AHL-dee) in 10 years, thanks to cancellations in 2020 for the COVID-19 pandemic.
Many attendees were ecstatic to be back for this celebration, which is unlike any other in the U.S. This festival drew in masses from around the country and around the world. Hundreds of people traveled from the Basque Country, the region that sits on the border between France and Spain. Their language, Euskara, was heard in the streets.
One way people showed their enthusiasm was through spontaneous footwork. As a trio of musicians with accordions and a tambourine performed Basque folk music at Kaixo Corner, a new park near the Basque Block, groups of people jumped up and danced along — a tradition at many festivals in the Basque Country.
Basque Country native Haizea Arakistain, who joined the dancing, said people learn the steps to these dances starting at 5 years old. “By the first beat, we know the dance. We’re like, ‘Wait, we know this,’ and we run to the center, and we start dancing,” Arakistain said.
Arakistain’s mother is from Boise and had been bringing her to Jaialdi since she was little, so Arakistain was sad the 2020 festival was canceled.
“It’s pretty great that Boise does this,” Arakistain said. “I mean, they give an opportunity to show the best culture, the Basque Country, and people that are from the Basque Country to people that are not from the Basque Country. They can see the beautiful parts of our country.”
Aside from dancing and music, attendees feasted on authentic Basque cuisine including large pans of seafood and chorizo Paella, chorizo sausages in freshly baked bread buns, croquettas and Gernika peppers. People walked around with their food and drinks, like white sangria and an iced red-wine-and-cola drink called kalimotxo.
“The celebration brings together people from the Basque Country and the diaspora, offering a chance to celebrate heritage, reconnect with family and friends and share Basque culture with the wider world,” Jaialdi spokesperson Lael Uberuaga-Rodgers previously told the Statesman.
Tere Lircarregui traveled from the Basque Country with a group of over 100 people to travel the U.S. and come to Jaialdi. Licarregui said she had family members who immigrated to Boise and worked for years to come back to their homeland.
Now, Licarregui plans to leave a photo of her family at the Basque Center to remember the work they did in Boise.
Licarregui said it is beautiful to see people meet Basque-Americans in Boise because they can maintain the connection between the Basque Country and the Basques who live here.
“When we are going to the bar or restaurant, and the old people that are there working ask where you are from, I say, ‘Guernica,’ and they cry and say, ‘Oh, I am from Markina. This is my wife, my son, my children,’ ” Licarreguie said.
For some people, Jaialdi is just another day to celebrate Basque culture. Dan Ansotegui, who owns Ansots Basque Chorizos, and his two bandmates played their folk music and watched people dance along. The trio play their music at festivals or sometimes just at Ansotegui’s restaurant.
Bandmate Jean-Jules Flesher said the music they play is passed down from generations.
“It’s what we learned from our parents and grandparents, and folks and singing and dancing. We start going to these festivals young. I started going before I was even born. We see everybody else dancing. So we want to do that, too,” Flesher said.
What to go to at the festival
The celebration isn’t over yet, with a weekend of dancing, music, food and sports still ahead.
Friday night at 7 p.m., the Idaho Central Arena will host a showcase of theatrical traditional dance and music at the Festara, with performances by dance groups from the Basque Country as well as Boise’s own Oinkari Basque Dancers. Ticket prices start at $30.65.
On Saturday night at 7:30, Dantzaldi will be held at the arena, where Basque-American bands will perform a mix of folk, rock and fusion music. The bands include Amuma Says No, Neomak and Gatibu. Ticket prices start at $35.80.
Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the Basque Expo will be held at Expo Idaho. Dozens of dance groups will perform, vendors will sell merchandise, and there will be sporting events. Tickets can be purchased in advanced on the Jaialdi site for $16 or at the door for $20.
Sunday evening will close out the festival with Jaialdi Mass, a gathering at the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist at 5 p.m. for an honoring of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. The Boise Oñati Dancers will perform a sacred liturgical dance. This event is free. After, there will be more dancing, food and music on the Basque Block.
This story was originally published August 1, 2025 at 12:16 PM.
