Maskarada (carnival of Soule)

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The maskarada (IPA: [maʃ'ka(ɾ)ada]) is a set of performances of popular theatre that takes place in the streets of villages of Soule (Zuberoa in Basque) in carnival time on a yearly basis. It is usually referred to in plural (maskaradak) on the grounds that the show tours around different villages of that territory for a month or two in late winter through spring. Each year a given village (or two if there are no people enough) takes the responsibility of arranging the show played by its inhabitants, most of the times youths.

Maskarada actors laid back around the bonfire

For all the changes in content and actors/players, the show follows a set pattern every year, with the same stages taking place throughout different spots of the village. The chorus of parade marchers includes a musician band (atabal, ttun-ttun and xirula players), the traditional dancers and an assortment of actors, who stand for some set characters immutable for ages. At some points of the parade, the barrikadak take place, where the marchers stop in front of a stall arranged by the villagers and bestow on them a dance, sometimes even a song, getting back in exchange biscuits, crisps... snacks in general and wine and liquor (onlookers participate too). The inhabitants and visitors walk along the parade goers up and down the streets through the various stages that take place until the ending of the performance, most often in the market place or handball court. The maskarada may take a whole day from early in the morning till afternoon, and a popular lunch is held.

Maskaradas represent a genuine example of traditional popular carnival theatre struggling to survive, much in step with the modest revival of the Basque language. It's connected to pastoral in many aspects, such as recurrent fixed characters, a marked distinction in the group (eg, the reds stand for the good, while the blacks represent the evil)^[1] or a rigid structuring and development. The language used by the actors remains bilingual Zuberoan Basque, for the most part, and Bearnais, despite some difficulties to hand either language over to new generations.