20th annual World Roma Festival KHAMORO begins tomorrow - ROMEA TV to broadcast several live performances
The 20th annual World Roma Festival KHAMORO is upon us and the launch party on Prague’s Střelecký ostrov will happen Sunday evening. The Milan Kroka live band, Gipsy.cz, and the Slovak singer Gitana will perform.
ROMEA TV, the first Romani Internet television station in the Czech Republic, will broadcast the opening of the festival live. During the week ROMEA TV will also broadcast other festival performances live online as well.
LIVE BROADCASTS BY ROMEA TV DURING KHAMORO 2018
- Sunday, 27. 5. 2018, 18:45 – Festival Launch
- Tuesday, 29. 5. 2018, 19:45 – Fashion Show
- Friday, 1. 6. 2018, 11:45 – Défilé (Parade) by Performers
- Saturday, 2. 6. 2018, 19:30, 20:30, 23:45 – Gala Concert
On Monday 28 May lovers of Romani culture can look forward to a concert by the three biggest global stars of “Gypsy Jazz” – the All Star Gypsy Jazz trio (Stochelo Rosenberg, Angelo Debarre, Tchavolo Schmitt) at the Hybernia Theater. On Thursday 31 May and Friday 1 June, the La Fabrika venue will host the best of traditional Romani music with performances by the Hungarian band EtnoRom & Friends, the Spanish ensemble Alba Heredia Flamenco Company, FYR of Macedonia’s own Kočani Orkestar, the Russia group Podkova schast’ya, the Portuguese band Ciganoś D´Ouro and the famous Mahala Rai Banda of Romania.
The Czech domestic Romani music scene will also be represented by another All-Star band comprised of the best Romani musicians from the Czech Republic who have performed at the festival during the last 20 years. At high noon on Friday, 1 June, the traditional and much-loved défilé (parade) of performers will make its way through the center of Prague, beginning on Wenceslas Square.
The rich program this year will not just involve music. KHAMORO will once again present many other artistic and expert events.
On Monday 28 May at the Czech Centres Gallery, the exhibition will open called “Racial Diagnosis: Gypsy” (Rasová diagnóza: Cikán). Mr Romani Rose, one of the greatest experts on the Holocaust and its Romani victims who is largely responsible for mapping this frequently-ignored chapter of 20th-century history, will come from Germany to attend the opening.
On Tuesday 29 May we will take a look at the world of fashion together with the Hungarian fashion design studio “Romani Design“. Their modern designs inspired by Romani tradition will be worn by models from the progressive New Aliens Agency to musical accompaniment and a brilliant atmosphere curated by DJ Gadjo.
On Wednesday 30 May at 18:00 at the Galerie Zahradník an exhibition will open called “Macedonian Roma through the Lens of German Soldiers in WWI”. Also on Wednesday there will be a performance of “…a zase jsme spali pindral“ (“…and again we all slept pindral“) beginning at 20:00 at the Alfred ve dvoře theater, directed by Romani “Renaissance man” David Tišer.
On Thursday 31 May in the Lucerna passage an exhibition will open of extraordinary large-format photographs of Romani women entitled “Invisible Strength” (Neviditelná síla). As part of the side program to the festival there will be a two-day international conference on the position of Romani women in Europe today, events for children who live in children’s homes throughout the Czech Republic, an overview of Romani literature called “Gavoro” (“Village”), a children’s day at the Portheimka Park and a football tournament.
The festival closes on Saturday, 2 June with a gala concert at the SaSaZu club where once again legends of Romani music in the Czech Republic will perform as their own “All-Star Band” along with six ensembles from abroad and the brilliant Romafest dancers from Romania as the special guest. KHAMORO (Romanes for “sun”) is the most famous professional Romani arts festival in the world.
The festival is held annually by the Slovo 21 organization together with the SP Saga company, and during its two decades of existence it has established itself as a cultural event for all of society that attracts as many as 10 000 visitors from abroad and the Czech Republic annually. One of the festival’s media partners is news server Romea.cz and the Romani monthly Romano voďi.