Korrika
Past Korrika Celebrations:
KORRIKA - San Francisco - Saturday, March 23rd, 2013, 10:00am.
The 18th edition of Korrika! We gathered at Hellman Hollow Picnic Area (formerly known as Speedway Meadows) in the Golden Gate Park on Saturday, March 23rd.
Running will took place from 10am-12pm. Lunch provided afterward.
There were games & prizes - all ages were welcome!
KORRIKA - San Francisco - Saturday, April 16th, 2011, 10:00am.
We got together in golden gate park on Saturday morning (4/16/2011). There were approximately 50 people - old & young, from here and from Euskal Herria (some are studying here, some are working here, some were from Arrasate (Gipuzkoa) on a month-long project, others were here on an extended vacation). It was a really great ambiance and everyone was happy to participate remotely in korrika. Lots of euskara was heard and celebrated! We ran a lap around the parkgrounds with a bicyclist leading the pack - he had music attached to his bike, so we listened to Gose (see video clip at bottom of this page) and the crowd shouted 'tipi tapa! tipi tapa! Korrika!' Afterwards, an incredible paella was prepared by Juan San Mames. Everyone had a good-sized helping of the delicious dish. People talked, children played and everyone enjoyed the day!!
The Basque Cultural Center celebrated the Korrika event, that happens every 2 years in the Basque Country in support of the Basque language euskara.
Click here for directions to Speedway Meadow in Golden Gate Park.
Korrika is the Basque name of a Country-wide walkathon organized by the Coordinator for Basque Language and Literacy/Learning (AEK) in support of the Basque language. The objective of the event is to enhance awareness of Basque and raise funds to carry out this work on a daily basis in AEK study centres.
The first Korrika took place in 1980 and the course ran from Oñati (Gipuzkoa) to Bilbao (Bizkaia). Since then, the walkathon has become one of the Basque Country’s major events in terms of number of participants. Over the past 28 years 15 korrikas have been held.
2011´s Korrika will be held from the 7th April to the 17th April, from Trebiñu (Araba) to Donostia (Gipuzkoa). The slogan is "Maitatu, ikasi, ari,...Euskalakari" (Love it, learn it, speak it,...Euskalakari). It wants to be an homage to all those people who love the Basque language, learnt it or are learning it now, and use it. Kalakari is a word invented for this event, to represent the persons mentioned.
A hollow baton is carried during the walkathon and exchanges hands at each change of kilometre. Inside there is a message which will not be made public until the Korrika ends on April 5th in Vitoria-Gasteiz, when a well-known Basque personality will read it out loud.
In April of 2009, the Basque Cultural Center coordinated Korrika S.F. at Crissy Field in solidarity with the 16th Korrika in Euskal Herria.
Who organizes the Korrika?
AEK, Coordinator for Basque Language and Literacy/Learning is in charge of organizing this event, with the objective of publicizing and reviving the Basque language. To this end, the Coordinator works in the field of adult education in the Basque language. In addition to Basque classes in its academies or euskaltegis, AEK conducts research and teacher education courses, creates teaching materials, and organizes cultural events and awareness campaigns in favour of the Basque language.
How has AEK evolved?
The earliest adult education courses for Basque-speaking adults were formed around 1965, the year of the first campaign to promote the recovery of Basque. Since then, AEK has continued in this field conducting many more such courses, but at the same time it has also promoted Basque classes for the general public. Enhancing the wide-spread use of Basque has always been objective and has led to the creation of its string of evening schools or gau-eskolak. This whole movement has been created with the support and encouragement of Euskaltzaindia, the Academy of the Basque Language.
Today AEK is one of the Basque Country’s most important organisations in the field of adult language education in Basque, with some 100 academies and more than 500 teachers. Here is the video produced by the avant-garde group GOSE for the 2011 Korrika: