A special BertsoDerbia

Athletic Club Fundazioa has organized a new edition of Bertsoderbia, the traditional meeting of Basque improvisational singers, known as bertsolaris, which has been held since 2012.

Bertsolaritza is the art of producing improptu verses whilst singing in the Basque language. The performer is called a Bertsolari and the improv contests are typically held at big events.

Normally on derby day, the two teams of bertsolaris -zurigorris (red-and-whites) and txuriurdines (blue-and-whites)- battle it out and a judge chooses the winner. However, this year as no public is allowed into San Mamés, it will be a ‘friendly’ match.

Given the impossibility of holding the event with the public due to the pandemic, Fundazioa has recorded two videos with the bertsolaris Onintza Enbeita and Andoni Egaña.

In the first video, broadcast on the eve of the match, the bertsolaris sing from the centre-circle of San Mamés to the empty stands, dedicating their verses to the absent fans. In the second,  projected on the video scoreboard before kick-off, Enbeita and Egaña address the players directly. These are the verses sung in both videos.

Verses from the first video

Onintza Enbeita:
Silence in the air and tension in the grass.
Now that they won’t let us join together,
let us maintain the passion inside, but truly so.
May we see ourselves reflected in the sweat and the strikes of the ball;
May the breath of our shouts be deduced in the empty stands,
shouting in the empty stands.

Andoni Egaña:
Eleven against eleven and four corners.
Two boxes and two goalmouths.
Can’t you love your team colours deeply still?
Despite the fact fans are banished from the stands?
The team is a part of the people and the people are part of the team.
So let the game go on until the sun goes down, until the sun goes down.

Verses from the second video

Twenty-two footballers on the green turf…
But the final result is all that counts.
Up the blue-and-whites, passion and effort!
Come on the red-and-whites, fight is your game!
But in the end, both these teams need each other.