JOALDUNAK or ZANPANTZARRAK
The inhabitants of Ituren and Zubieta have sustained a unique Basque carnival tradition. Until recently, it was almost unknown outside of the locale; nowadays they have "taken it on the road" so to speak and there have been efforts to replicate this by other groups. The focus of this carnival celebration are the Joaldunak. In Ituren they are dressed in a traditional peasant outfit: a simple shirt, blue pants that are tucked into the galtzerdiak or socks, and the rubber zatazak (originally leather). Around their waist the performers wear a white skirt, decorated with red or blue laces, that reaches the knees. Atop their shoulders, sown past the waist, they wear a coat of natural wool. Midway down the back, two small bells are attached, and then the two large bells are tightly fastened around the waist so that they stand out almost perpendicular in order to make them ring more easily. Around the neck they wear a colored scarf; atop their head they wear a two foot tall ttuntturoroa or cone-shaped hat decorated with laces and chicken feathers. In their right hand they carry the isopua, a short engraved stick to which is attached a portion of a horse's tale. One of the most important parts of the carnival, the mask, is no longer utilized. In an earlier time they wore a piece of black material that covered their faces down to their chests. The outfit of the Joaldunak of Zubieta is the same, except that they do not wear wool atop the shoulders but only around the torso.

Joaldunak is only one name for these processing characters. The word is descriptive of their task: the root of the term io or jo mean in Basque means to hit or play. Joaladunak therefore implies those who play or hit, in this specific case those who play the bells. The performers are also known by other names, such as ttuntturroak (from their hats) and Zanpantzar (from the medieval carnival character of the French saint Pansard). Theirs is a two-day ritual. Performers from both towns join together to take turns in the "purifying" ritual: so on one day they "purify" Ituren and the second day Zubieta.