abstract:Basque pelota (pilota in the original Basque language also pelota vasca in Spanish, pelote basque in French) is the name for a variety of court sports played with a ball using one's hand, a racket, a wooden bat or a basket, against a wall (frontis or Fronton) or, more traditionally, with two teams face to face separated by a line on the ground or a net. The roots of this class of games can be traced to the Greek and other ancient cultures.
In Idaho and Nevada, many cities hold annual Basque festivals with traditional sporting contests weight-carrying, wood-chopping, sheep-hooking and pelota (similar to jai-alai in America) as well as dancing exhibitions, Basque-language Catholic masses and bread-baking contests.