Visit the Kern County Basque Club's Etxola at the annual Fair

Kern County, along with all other counties in the United States, has an annual event known as a Fair. Most fairs have livestock and commercial exhibits, farming displays, carnival rides, entertainment of all types, a rodeo, and various other activities including many different types of food and beverages available for purchase from many different vendors. These fairs usually take place in the late summer or early fall.

For fund raising purposes, the Kern County Basque Club maintains a booth on the Kern County Fair grounds for use during the fair. Known as “Gure Etxola,” it actually consists of two buildings. One contains a kitchen and a serving area where we prepare Basque style food for sale. The other, newer building contains cold storage, dry storage and an area for the sale of beer and wine.

The original etxola was built in 1974 at the request of the Fair Administration so that the fair could have a representation of Bakersfield’s famous Basque food on its premises. The etxola was an immediate success and the storage and kantina building had to be added because of the extreme popularity of the food and the hospitality of our workers.

The fair runs for total of ten days in September but preparation of the etxola, developing of schedules and the purchasing of supplies and food takes much longer then those ten days. The Kern County Basque Club is wholly responsible for the maintenance and appearance of the etxola and yearly painting and repairs must take place to satisfy the high standards of the fair administration. In addition, ordering the hundreds of kilos of lamb, beef, tongue, vegetables, seasonings, cleaning materials, eating utensils and more is also part of the process. The many dozens of kegs of beer that we sell must also be ordered and delivery schedules established. Naturally, we must meet all local, state and federal health and safety standards and must maintain a high degree of cleanliness and sanitation. This year we are modifying our service counters to provide better access for the handicapped.

Days before the fair starts there is a crew of volunteer cooks working at the Basque Club kitchen roasting meat, preparing sausages, slicing vegetables and getting food ready to be taken to the etxola from the Clubhouse. During the fair, beginning at 6:30 each morning, the etxola must be serviced, stocked, sidewalks cleaned and the building and kitchen readied for that day’s activities. During the day, while the fair is open to the public, an all volunteer crew mans the kitchen, serving area and the kantina. This requires several shifts of crews for the twelve hour period the fair is open. On an average day we sell hundreds of sandwiches and dinners and hundreds of cups of beer. At peak times, customers are lined up 8 to 10 deep to buy food or drink. After the fair closes at 11:00pm the buildings and equipment must be cleaned, the money counted and preparations for the next day initiated. This can take more than another hour of time.

While all this activity is happening at the fair grounds, another dedicated group of volunteers continues to work each afternoon and night at the Clubhouse preparing food that will be taken the following morning to the etxola for that day’s consumption. This includes the roasting and slicing of meat, preparing vegetables, etc., and then placing them in our walk-in refrigerator. Each morning, the food prepared the previous night is trucked to the etxola.

Our food menu served from our main etxola includes lamb or beef au jus sandwiches, Basque sausage (lukainka) sandwiches, pickled tongue sandwiches, tomato salad, cooked beans, bowls of pickled tongue and dinner plates consisting of a number of the above items. We also serve soft drinks and bottled water from this area. We are fortunate to have an excellent Basque bakery in town that supplies us with fresh rolls daily. Our kantina sells beer and wine.

Our etxola must pay the fair administration 25% of the gross of the money that we make. Our etxola produces more money for the fair than any other food booth. It is responsible for a large amount of the money our Club raises each year. However, if it weren’t for all of our workers being volunteers, it would be very difficult for us to justify all the time and energy we commit to the project.

Kern County Fair
September 20th through October 1st.

Kern County Fairgrounds
1142 South P Street
Bakersfield, CA. 93307

Visit The Kern County Basque Club website