Reno celebrates 40th Basque festival

The bright colors of red and green splashed the grounds of Wingfield Park near the Truckee River on Saturday to celebrate the 40th annual Reno Basque Festival.

The colors were worn by patrons and the Zazpiak Bat Basque Club members to show off the proud Basque culture that flows through Reno.

The festival began with the pledge of allegiance recited by Jim Ithlurralde, the Basque Festival announcer since 1972, and The Basque National Anthem, "Gernikako Arbola," was sung shortly after.

The Reno Zazpiak Bat dancers, led by instructor Kathleen Camino, performed traditional dances.

Andie Swanson, member of Reno's Basque club, watched as her daughter, Courtney, led a traditional Basque dance while holding an American flag on the Wingfield stage. Swanson is in charge of the Basque sports including weightlifting and wood chopping.

"It's fun because I get to take care of the big boys," Swanson said.

Swanson was once a Reno Zazpiak Bat dancer as well.

"Then I became a teenager. You go your own way," she said. "But you always find your way back."

Swanson is a second-

generation Basque. Her grandparents came to the United States in the 1920s on a ship that arrived at Ellis Island. She inherited her grandmother's $20 gold piece from the 1920s, as well as a gold necklace she wore.

"It's very special to me," she said.

Swanson has worked with the Zazpiak Bat Basque Club for so many years that she said she couldn't remember the exact number.

"The Reno Basque Festival brings us all together as one," Swanson said. "We're one big, happy group."

Basque club members were stirring giant pots under the tents to make stew with pork loins, potatoes, beans, onions and chorizo, which is sausage.

Local artists Linda Barrenchea and Holly Waltz were selling their handcrafted gourds. They came in all shapes, sizes and colors -- brightening up the booth they were held at Saturday.

The gourds, Barrenchea said, can be made with leather or silk dye.

"They are all different in their own way," Barrenchea said. "They are similar to pottery, but you can make masks and other decorative objects with them. We look at a gourd and say, 'What can we try with it?"

A weightlifting demonstration was held in the afternoon followed by a wood chopping demonstration.

Printed on the back of Swanson's shirt was a colorful display in bright red and green letters that read "Eat, Drink, and Be Basque!!"

"The Basque festival is important because it's going back to our roots," Swanson said. "Nobody's a stranger here, and everybody is a friend.

Photos: ANDY BARRON/RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL

Shaylene Lewis of San Diego is cheered on by her family and friends as she competes in the weight-carrying contest in which female contestants carry two 75-pound weights on Saturday at the 40th annual Reno Basque Festival at Wingfield Park. Lewis carried the two weights for 214 yards.

Check out my gallery of the Basque Festival at RGJ.com
Click to see photographer Andy Barron's Gallery here.