Global General

Roma festival held in Prague to fix ethnic gap

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-05-30 13:43

PRAGUE - An annual international festival was held through the weekend in Prague in a bid to improve relations between native Czechs and the country's Roma (Gypsy) minority.

The International Roma Festival Khamoro, which was organized by two Czech nongovernmental organizations with government support, featured concerts, an education campaign, two international conferences on Roma education and art, as well as an exhibition of Roma lifestyle.

Foreign participants invited to the event included Roma folk art groups from seven other European countries and India, as well as experts from 19 countries worldwide.

Roma communities have long been complaining that the minority group was discriminated against in education, politics and other aspects of public life in the country, and the government has pledged to address their grievance.

The Khamoro festival was held annually in the Czech capital since May 1999, featuring Roma culture and traditions.