Guys, I think I must be Basque, among other similarities, I love beans and I despise socks! I'd totally win this contest... if it existed...
THE BASQUE BEAN GORGING FESTIVAL
by Zigor Reizabal, Easy Midget travel correspondent
High up in the Pyrenees Mountains, in the Basque province between France and Spain, an event more mysterious than the Basque people themselves takes place every year. It's more exciting than Pamplona’s Running of the Bulls and more intriguing than Valencia’s annual tomato fight. What is it that has thousands flocking from around the region to partake in something so fun you might just collapse from fun? The Basque Bean Gorging Festival, of course.
Participating is something to behold and not for dullards. At the first break of dawn everyone gathers in the village square with their wine pouches and begins drinking like tycoons. Everyone gets sloshed— even old women and children. Everyone gets so drunk that by 10am you'll see people puking on stray donkeys and in other people’s shoes.
Around noon, three giant cauldrons are lugged in on horse-drawn wagons and unloaded under a statue of the village hero, Bernardo Atxaga, the famous Basque novelist. A chant begins as the villagers begin shouting “Itarrak! Itarrak! Itarrak!” (Beans! Beans! Beans!)
The cauldrons are slowly tipped into the square as steaming piles of beans pour out like hot lava flows. Everyone rolls up their pant legs and takes off their shoes (Basques despise socks). On the count of three, everyone plunges into the pool of beans. It’s difficult at first as the beans scald the skin on contact. Some cry for help but their distress goes unnoticed as everyone is set about scooping hot beans into their mouths with homemade wooden spoons to prove their manhood to the village.
The air is thick with excitement as the chanting and dancing begins before the beans arrive. A vomit-covered donkey watches in the foreground.
Some snort like pigs, others quietly go about their business, but the mood is competitive. Often, fights will break out and someone inevitably gets put into a full-nelson and is forcibly shoved into the bottom of a bean pile. This makes for an ugly scene but it doesn't deter the will of the staunchest gorgers.
Those who choose not to participate, cheer the competitors on with song and dance, and of course more drink. Nearby, old men sing merrily on goats that have been trained to jump through hoops and young women clad in colorful skirts spin and dance about while songs are sung about magical oak trees.
The bean gorging goes on throughout the night with occasional breaks of respite where beans are conveniently vomited up into a special gonbito, or bucket. At the stroke of midnight whoever happens to have been able to endure the constant gorging is lined up and systematically punched right in the midriff. This delights the crowd greatly and continues until one man manages to hold his beans the longest and is declared the winner.
Whoever lays claim to "King of the Bean Gorging" is hoisted into the air upon the shoulders of the villagers and carried through the streets. He is placed in a special vest and hat made from dried beans and rolled up into a ball where he must stay like that until dawn. He also receives all the snails he can eat for a year and gets to choose the fourth prettiest girl in town for his own doing.
The Basques are fiercely proud of their beans and raise an eyebrow to any outsider who laughs at or mocks the festival. However, they encourage tourism and openly promote the commercialization of the bean gorging through t-shirt merchandising. They hope to see you there next year ready to have fun at the great Basque Bean Gorging! Be sure to bring your appetite!
THE BASQUE BEAN GORGING FESTIVAL
by Zigor Reizabal, Easy Midget travel correspondent
High up in the Pyrenees Mountains, in the Basque province between France and Spain, an event more mysterious than the Basque people themselves takes place every year. It's more exciting than Pamplona’s Running of the Bulls and more intriguing than Valencia’s annual tomato fight. What is it that has thousands flocking from around the region to partake in something so fun you might just collapse from fun? The Basque Bean Gorging Festival, of course.
Participating is something to behold and not for dullards. At the first break of dawn everyone gathers in the village square with their wine pouches and begins drinking like tycoons. Everyone gets sloshed— even old women and children. Everyone gets so drunk that by 10am you'll see people puking on stray donkeys and in other people’s shoes.
Around noon, three giant cauldrons are lugged in on horse-drawn wagons and unloaded under a statue of the village hero, Bernardo Atxaga, the famous Basque novelist. A chant begins as the villagers begin shouting “Itarrak! Itarrak! Itarrak!” (Beans! Beans! Beans!)
The cauldrons are slowly tipped into the square as steaming piles of beans pour out like hot lava flows. Everyone rolls up their pant legs and takes off their shoes (Basques despise socks). On the count of three, everyone plunges into the pool of beans. It’s difficult at first as the beans scald the skin on contact. Some cry for help but their distress goes unnoticed as everyone is set about scooping hot beans into their mouths with homemade wooden spoons to prove their manhood to the village.
The air is thick with excitement as the chanting and dancing begins before the beans arrive. A vomit-covered donkey watches in the foreground.
Some snort like pigs, others quietly go about their business, but the mood is competitive. Often, fights will break out and someone inevitably gets put into a full-nelson and is forcibly shoved into the bottom of a bean pile. This makes for an ugly scene but it doesn't deter the will of the staunchest gorgers.
Those who choose not to participate, cheer the competitors on with song and dance, and of course more drink. Nearby, old men sing merrily on goats that have been trained to jump through hoops and young women clad in colorful skirts spin and dance about while songs are sung about magical oak trees.
The bean gorging goes on throughout the night with occasional breaks of respite where beans are conveniently vomited up into a special gonbito, or bucket. At the stroke of midnight whoever happens to have been able to endure the constant gorging is lined up and systematically punched right in the midriff. This delights the crowd greatly and continues until one man manages to hold his beans the longest and is declared the winner.
Whoever lays claim to "King of the Bean Gorging" is hoisted into the air upon the shoulders of the villagers and carried through the streets. He is placed in a special vest and hat made from dried beans and rolled up into a ball where he must stay like that until dawn. He also receives all the snails he can eat for a year and gets to choose the fourth prettiest girl in town for his own doing.
The Basques are fiercely proud of their beans and raise an eyebrow to any outsider who laughs at or mocks the festival. However, they encourage tourism and openly promote the commercialization of the bean gorging through t-shirt merchandising. They hope to see you there next year ready to have fun at the great Basque Bean Gorging! Be sure to bring your appetite!
No comments:
Post a Comment