Portál Pražana
The world's biggest Romani festival is here
From the 26th of May to the 1st of June, rhythmic Roma music will sound throughout Prague as the 21st annual Romani festival, Khamoro, takes place. Khamoro ('sun' in the Roma language) is the biggest and the most famous professional Roma festival in the world. It has been held in Prague since 1999.
Roma parade through the city
The festival will not only bring Prague’s clubs to life, but also the whole city. The colourful parade through the city has become a tradition. The parade will leave Můstek on Friday the 31st of May and will gradually move towards the ‘Staroměstské náměstí’ (Old Town Square).
The biggest stars coming from Romania
The main music star of this year's festival is the 12-member Romanian brass band Fanfare Ciocărlia, which means “lark’s song” and whose members come from a remote Romanian village where ancient Romani traditions have been preserved. The local musicians gained popularity in the 1990s, when the Romani brass band Fanfare Ciocărlia conquered Europe and gained jazz, as well as funk fans. The musicians speak only a local dialect of the Romani language, but their wild Balkan funk music speaks a universal language.
Gypsy jazz on the Vltava River
JazzDock on the Vltava River will also feature gypsy jazz. Well-known performers such as the guitarist Gismo Graf, star of German gypsy swing, who combines this genre with the influences of other music styles such as Bossa Nova, will perform in JazzDock. You can also look forward to Hot Club d'Europe, which is the band the famous Romani guitarist, Paulus Schäfer, who comes from the Dutch Sinti community, plays in.
Real Balkans rhythms
Catchy Balkan rhythms are represented by the Serbian band NS Begeš, which brings together the best contemporary Serbian musicians playing the tambour. They will perform traditional Serbian tamburas in their purest form in Prague. The band Romengo with the singer Monica Lakatos will represent Hungarian Roma. Their music is a mix between Roma music and flamenco. Authentic Romani flamenco will be performed by the Spanish group 3000... DeSCencias.
Stars from the Czech Republic
The rich tradition of Czech Romani music will be represented by the dulcimer band Ivan Herák & band, Igor Kmeťo & Band, Lače Manuša and Gipsy Suno at Khamoro.
Ivan Herák will perform twice, the second time as the violinist in the Romale Camerata Chamber Orchestra, which plays orchestral versions of Baroque compositions and traditional Roma music.
Education at the festival
For those who are interested in the specifics of Roma music, there is also a Small School of Music, and the two-day long International Colloquium: Music Minorities and Memory, led by doc. Zuzana Jurková and Mgr. Veronika Seidlová.
The festival will also host a meeting of the first Czech Roma Writers' Club, Paramisara, whose name is derived from the tradition of Roma storytellers.