Source: Todays Zaman
Photo: Sedat Acil KAKAVA FESTIVITY - EDIRNE For centuries, the Anatolian people have been celebrating spring with a festival called "Hidrellez" or the "festivity of spring" on each May's 5th day. The gypsies in Edirne turn Hidrellez into a street carnival every year. They keep the Hidrellez tradition alive with their "Kakava festivities". The gypsies set the "Kakava Fire" alight in the Sarayici district of the northwestern province of Edirne. Accompanied by traditional gypsy music, people jump through the fire and dance to celebrate the Kakava festivities.
The Kakava Festival, a Balkan gypsy festival to celebrate the coming of summer, started in northwestern Edirne’s Sarayiçi Square on Tuesday.
Kakava festivities, which have been celebrated by the Roma community for centuries, have once again started in Edirne with Edirne Governor Mustafa Büyük, Mayor Hamdi Sedefçi and Garrison Commander Lt. Gen. Paşa Özen firing up the traditional Kakava bonfire. Although Kakava festivities are celebrated in the first week of May every year by the Roma community across Turkey, Edirne hosts the most spectacular celebrations every year.
Stating that Kakava festivities reflect Turkey’s colorful culture, Edirne Governor Büyük said they plan to expand it every year. Mayor Sedefçi said these festivities were celebrated in graveyards by the Roma people in the past, but now they have enabled them to celebrate the festival in Sarayiçi Square. A local Roma, Ferit Örs, said: “Today is our festival. It has been celebrated for centuries. It is a tradition handed down to us by our ancestors.” Stretching over two days, the festivities attract many from other cities in addition to the hundreds of Roma people coming to Edrine for festivities. The Roma celebrate the arrival of summer every year in this spot, with dancing and singing around the bonfire. Songs are sung, people dance and when the fire reaches a certain height, youths start to leap over it, a tradition thought to bring good luck and fortune for the coming year. Toward dawn in Kakava, the young girls all put on bridal gowns and head down to the banks of the Tunca River. The Roma pass across the bridge over the river accompanied by music and drums, wishing for good fortune. As the first light of dawn arrives, young Roma enter the waters of the river, trying to catch the bridal gowns left in the waters of the river for good fortune. The spring festival of Hıdrellez has been also welcomed in Anatolia. Shopkeepers in Bursa opened their shops early in the morning and gathered to celebrate the coming of summer.
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