On Saturday, June 11, 2016, the third edition of the Black-faced Carranzana Sheep Exhibition took place in the Ambasaguas neighborhood of Karrantza. It was a festive gathering where a large number of local shepherds brought their sheep down from the pastures to the square to promote, share, and celebrate this precious endangered animal with the townspeople and fellow shepherds. But we didn't just see sheep... The diverse animal world of the area was also represented: Azpigorri, Pirenaika, Montxina cattle, Terreña, Euskal Txerri, Villanos dogs, Euskal Artzai, Euskal oilarrak and antzarra, Pottoka, Encartaciones donkeys, etc.
The day was filled with a wide variety of activities designed for all ages: sales of crafts and agricultural products; Pottokas rides for children; sheep shearing demonstrations; rural sports; lamb tasting; bouncy castles; etc. There was a community lunch with a menu made from local products. Of course, music was also part of the festivities. In the morning, there was a parade with the bertsolaris Gure Jon and Beñat Amezaga from the Zalla School of Bertsos, and in the evening, the electro-txaranga Orkresta got everyone dancing.
In addition, for the organization of this event, the Basque Association for the Defense and Protection of Black-Faced Sheep Breeding (Avascane) collaborated with the Mutur Beltz collective, a young project that aims to revalue the wool of the black-faced Carranzana sheep as a product and to recover sustainable traditions through artistic practice, rethinking new models of farmhouses. Ramón Churruca, one of the leading exponents of performance art in the Basque Country, was invited to the event and performed at 12:30 p.m. At the same time, the 1st Meeting of Spinners of the Basque Country took place, with participants coming from Ataun, Donosti, Laudio, Bilbao, Ortuella, etc. They spent the whole morning spinning black-faced Carranzana sheep wool with different types of spinning wheels and spindles. Among all these spinners, the octogenarians Encarna Rivas and Jemia Mugica from Carranzana could not be missing, and they were honored for passing on their wisdom.
Later that afternoon, using all this spun wool, local knitters made a scarf. This item was raffled off at the end of the day. The evening ended with a unique txapela throwing competition.
Photos from the event
Moments lived
