The Bizkaia Bertsolaris Championship will begin in Urduliz and end in Bilbao, La Casilla

The Bizkaia Bertsolaris Championship will begin on 28 September in Urduliz and end on 20 December in Bilbao, not on the stage of the Bilbao Arena in recent years, at the sports center Casilla, as explained by Bertsozale Elkartea at an event held today in Bilbao.

The structure of the Bizkaia Bertsolaris Championship has been renovated by the organizers, and the semi-finals will be played in two rounds, so there will be three phases as before: in the first phase there will be five sessions; in the first round of the semi-finals there will be three sessions; in the second round there will be two sessions; and finally there will be the final.

Besides, there will be no Nerea Ibarzabal, winner of the last two Championships, by his own decision.

Thus, in the first phase, 30 bertsolaris will sing: 21 bertsolaris ranked in the Udabarria Bertsotan phase and 9 other bertsolaris who sang in the semi-finals in 2023. In the first round of the semi-finals, 11 bertsolaris will be classified, where the 7 bertsolaris who have passed directly to the semi-finals, who were finalists in 2023, will be expected.

Of those 18, 12 will be ranked in the second round of the semifinals.

Since 2012 the final of the Bizkaia Championship has been held in the Bilbao Arena, in Miribilla, but this year it will be in La Casilla, on 20 December, by decision of the organizers: "It has been a temporary change, the Organizing Group has seen it more appropriate to make the final there this year," explained Ione Narbaiza, coordinator of the Association of Bertsolaris.

On the other hand, this year's is a qualifying tournament for the Grand Championship: 10 bertsolaris will be ranked from Bizkaia for the 2026 Grand Championship.