Saturday, February 1, 2014

Joaldun

Joaldun (literally "one who wears bells") is a traditional character of Basque culture from the  Navarre villages of Ituren and Zubieta. Joaldun announces the arrival of carnival, waving his cow-bells (joareak, in the Basque plural) during the last week January.
In Spanish, this is known as "zanpantzar.
It is a rural tradition which origin is not known, but its meaning is to force the awakening of nature after winter by making noise, specifically with large cow-bells. 


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