Main events of Basque culture in July 2024

Basque culture offers the best international jazz festivals in the month of July 2024. The one in San Sebastian is the oldest in Spain, and the Vitoria-Gasteiz festival is internationally renowned. Don’t miss out on the one in Getxo either.

In May, we celebrated the centenary of the birth of the great Basque sculptor Nestor Basterretxea, and coincidentally, in July of this same year 2024, we commemorate the 10th anniversary of his passing. We also remember the death on July 31st of Ignatius of Loyola, another Basque figure and one of the founders of the Jesuits. On the same month, the illustrious painter Ignacio Zuloaga was born. For art lovers, the Balenciaga Museum in Guetaria presents an excellent exhibition showcasing the relationship between two universal Basque artists: sculptor Eduardo Chillida and fashion designer Cristobal Balenciaga.

Ernest Hemingway’s life is closely to this month. He was born on July 21st, 1889, exactly 125 years ago in 2024. Tragically, he took his own life on July 2nd, 1961, using the tickets he had purchased for the Festival of San Fermin. He was buried on July 6th, the same day the festivities began. Interestingly, Hemingway also arrived in Pamplona for the first time on July 6th, 1923. In 2024, we celebrate the 100th anniversary of his first run in the bulls.

As if that weren’t enough, from July 14th to 20th, Bilbao and San Sebastian host the 20th International Hemingway Conference by the Hemingway Society. The theme is ‘Ernest Hemingway and Euskalerria (Basque Country).

Two other significant activities include in July:

• ‘Childhood in Art’. The BBK V Art Route Program. An itinerant exhibition by the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum will be in Balmasea, Getxo, Plentzia, Bermeo, and Mundaka.
• ‘Liga Eusko Label de Traineras’: The twelve best traineras of the moment compete from July 1st to September 15th in Hondarribia, Portugalete, Getxo, Orio, Pasaia, Donostia/San Sebastian, Zarautz, Zumaia, Bermeo, and Bilbao.

Proposals of Basque culture in San Sebastian and Gipuzkoa 

• Exhibition “Balenciaga. Character”, 3rd part. Perspective of the couturier’s work, never before seen, and focused on what makes “a Balenciaga” recognizable. Cristobal Balenciaga Museum. From March 1st to January 19th, 2025.
• “Chillida / Balenciaga – Fold the shape” exhibition. Within the framework of the centenary of Eduardo Chillida. Guipuzcoans, friends and with a common philosophical base between the sculptor of air and the couturier of space. Cristobal Balenciaga Museum. From March 22nd to January 5th, 2025.
• 100 years. The modern and/or the contemporary. Basque art from the 1920s to the present. San Telmo Museum. From April 13th to December 30th.
• “Basterretxea in Irún (1957-1975)” exhibition. Focused on his most experimental artistic production. Menchu Gal Room of the Irun City Council. From April 19th to July 21st.
• Temporary exhibition “100 years of Eduardo Chillida with the Telefónica Collection“. Collaboration with Telefonica, Fundaciontef and Chillida100 in the years of the artist’s Centennial. Chillida Leku Museum. From May 15th to October 13th.
• The evolution of Basque fashion from the 18th to the 20th centuries. Basque Costume Museum in Rentería. Baroque building Kapitain Etxea. From June 24th to December 31st.
• Concert: Loreena McKennitt. Celebrate the 30th anniversary of “The Mask and Mirror.” Her Celtic universe sprinkled with her experiences in Spain and Morocco. Kursaal Center Auditorium. July 12th.
• Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. 200 years since its premiere. Orphean Donostiarra and the Santa Cecilia Classical Orchestra. Kursaal Center Auditorium. July 13th.
• Aqualung 50th Anniversary (European Tour). Jethro Tull’s Martin Barre, and his band. Victoria Eugenia Theater. July 14th.
• 59th San Sebastian Jazz Festival (Heineken Jazzaldia). The oldest jazz festival in Spain. Artists: Norah Jones, Jamie Cullum, Rufus Wainwright, Diana Krall, Marisa Monte, Sílvia Pérez Cruz and Gregory Porter. From July 23rd to 28th.

Enjoy Basque culture activities in Bilbao and Biscay in July 2024

• Signs and Objects: Pop Art from the Guggenheim Collection. In addition to historical pieces from the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, the exhibition will include a selection of new work by contemporary artists exploring the legacy of pop. From February 16th to September 19th.
• Childhood in art. Program “The BBK Art Route” V. Traveling exhibition from May 3rd to December 15th. Balmasea, Getxo, Plentzia, Bermeo and Mundaka in July.
• Martha Jungwirth. Perspective on her work between abstract expressionism and informalism. Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. From June 7th to September 22nd.
• Yoshitomo Nara. Exhibition covers Nara’s entire career from its beginnings. Bilbao Guggenheim Museum. From June 28th to November 3rd.
• Bilboko Kalealdia Festival. Street shows, contemporary dance, circus and puppets. Gran Vía and the Old Town of Bilbao. From July 1st to 6th.
• 47th Getxo International Jazz Festival. Irati Bilbao, Seada Quartet, Femm, Wasted Generation … Muxikebarri – Getxo Art, Culture and Congress Center. From July 3rd to 7th.
• Show off Basque dances. It promotes popular Basque folklore by celebrating local religious festivals known as pilgrimages, dance performances and parades. In Plaza Arriaga on July 3rd, 13th, 20th and 27th; in Plaza Carmelo on the 16th, and on the 27th in the morning in Plaza San Inazio.
• Bilbao BBK Live Festival 2024. Florence + The Machine, Arctic Monkeys, Arcade Fire, Massive Attack, The Prodigy, Basoa. Music and multiple parallel activities. Camping and Glamping. Kobetamendi. From July 11th to 13th.
• 3rd Bilbao Blues Festival and the Final of the Spain Blues Challenge to obtain a place in the European Blues Challenge. From July 25th to 28th.
• Selma Huxley: discovering the Basques in 16th century Terra Nova. Basque cod and whale expeditions and fisheries in Terra Nova. Maritime Museum, Itsasmuseum Bilbao. Until September 1st.

Basque culture in Vitoria-Gasteiz and Alava in July 2024

• Basterretxea exhibition in the archive. It delves into his work from a documentary perspective in his film production, and in the presentation of the artist’s digital archive, after the donation made to the museum by his family. Artium Museoa. From May 10th to September 22nd.
• María Antonia Proietti, the Italian model. Model of the Alava painters Ignacio Díaz Olano and Fernando Amárica. Museum of Fine Arts of Álava in Vitoria-Gasteiz. From May 15th to January 26th, 2025.
• Trajectories. It shows the work of the three Basque artists Juan de Echevarría, Gustavo de Maeztu and Ángel Olarte. Works from the collection of the Álava Museum of Fine Arts in Vitoria-Gasteiz. From May 15th to January 26th, 2025.
• Exhibition Basque cosmogonic series, by Nestor Basterretxea. Montehermoso Cultural Center of Vitoria-Gasteiz. From June 27th to September 29th.
• Performance – Impro. Danzálava 2024. Vera Mantero, Zuriñe Benavente & Ignacio Monterrubio on July 3rd, and Thomas Hauert on July 4th. Artium Museoa, Vitoria-Gasteiz.
• 15th Korterraza Gasteiz 2024. Outdoor short film festival. 4 short film sessions and 6 concerts. Exterior of the Artium Museoa, Vitoria-Gasteiz. From July 4th to 6th.
• ‘Nature and Imagination’, “Viva San Fermín” and “Jazz in the garden”. Municipal Music Band of Vitoria-Gasteiz. Outdoor Music 2024. Secret Garden of Water, La Florida Park. July 5th, 12th and 19th.
• Quintano Wine Fest. Good wines, live music, DJ Lownamy and pintxos. Manuel Quintano Winery. Labastida. July 13th.
• 47th Vitoria-Gasteiz Jazz Festival. One of the best festivals of its kind in Europe. Gregory Porter, Pat Metheny, Michel Camino y Tomatito, Trueno, Christie Dashiell, Chucho Valdés and Irakere, and more. Mendizorrotza Sports Center, Antzokia Principal Theater, the Falerina garden and others. From July 15th to 20th.

These proposals for Basque culture in July 2024 are selected by Aitor for an audience that loves culture in its best expressions and interpreters. In the tours that you design with Aitor Delgado Tours you can incorporate some of these proposals if they fit your needs. Get in touch and let’s talk.