Here comes the 'sun': Khamoro Festival brings music and festivities galore to Prague

The 26th annual Khamoro Roma Arts Festival will feature traditional Roma music and gypsy jazz concerts, art exhibitions, film screenings, a parade of Roma artists through Prague’s city center, and a cooking show devoted to Roma cuisine.

Slovo 21, the festival organizer, has announced an action-packed lineup of events celebrating Roma culture worldwide from May 26 to June 1. This year’s theme centers on the education of young Roma men and women.

The festival kicks off on May 26 at the Prague Exhibition Grounds in the Gauč (Couch) area with a Khamoro Party featuring Slovak funk musician Igor Kmeto and emerging singer Vanesa Horáková.

On Monday, May 27, a performance by the Slovak National Theatre sheds light on the historical events that took place in western Slovakia in October 1928 when rioters attacked a Roma settlement there, killing six people.

Gypsy jazz concerts are scheduled for the evenings of May 27-28, with a classical music performance by the Lavutari di Praga ensemble set for May 29 in the Jerusalem Synagogue.

The traditional Friday, May 31, parade sees 100 musicians, dancers, and 200 children from folklore ensembles marching through Prague’s city center from Wenceslas Square to Old Town Square.

On Saturday afternoon, June 1, a culinary show Aven te chal! (Come and eat!) will be staged at the (A)VOID Café on the Vltava River embankment near the Jirásek Bridge. Pavel Berky, a third-place winner in the Czech MasterChef competition, will cook up a family three-bean goulash recipe and Gypsy Burgers. On that same day, a children’s day event takes place at Park Portheimka.

The festival culminates on June 1 with a gala concert at Sasazu featuring Roma artists from Macedonia, Hungary, Spain, Portugal, Latvia, France, and the Czech Republic.

This year’s accompanying program, “The Future of Young Roma,” will examine education opportunities and challenges for Roma youth since the 1989 Velvet Revolution. Roma students and secondary and higher education graduates will participate, along with the Romea organization, which co-organizes the event, will present its new campaign.

According to the organizers, some 10,000 visitors visit the festival annually. In the past 25 years, 260 bands from 33 countries have performed there. The aim of the event is to connect the Roma minority with others through the arts and combat stereotypes, the organizers said.