Boise, ID (CBS2) — At Jaialdi’s Sports Night, feats of strength take center stage, from wood chopping to hay bale tossing to lifting stones weighing hundreds of pounds. But for one Boise family, the spectacle is more than just tradition. It’s personal.
José Luis Arrieta Arriaga, better known as “Highland Joe”, immigrated from the Basque Country in the 1950s and went from sheepherder to strongman, competing in the first two Jaialdi festivals. Today, he’s remembered in a mural on Boise’s Basque Block and in the heart of his younger brother, Javier Arrieta.
“They was making really, really good money, yah yah. He was doing lifting and pulling he was just about one of the best ones. He was really good, really strong,” Javier said.
These sports have evolved since their days as rural survival skills, with both men and women now training professionally in the Basque Country. Thanks to help from the Basque government, top athletes are returning to Boise for Jaialdi — and bringing a piece of that heritage with them.
“They hear they do this in Basque Country — now we want to have a chance to watch it here,” Javier said. “That’s why people come. They enjoy it.”…