A two-day festival celebrating Roma culture, history and talent is to take place in Glasgow this weekend with founder Janos Lang encouraging people from all walks of life to visit.

Held at the Centre for Contemporary Arts (CCA) and Drygate Brewery, the Ando Glaso Roma Festival is making its second appearance in Glasgow having started last year, and Mr Lang hopes it can be an event that educates people on the community’s traditions and culture while showcasing the talent they have.

The event takes place over two days on Friday September 6 and Saturday September 7, meaning it will take place on the same day that far right marches are planned for across Scotland – including in George Square in Glasgow.

It will showcase some of the best Roma artists around in the including 17-year-old Vanesa Horakova, and the winners of last year’s Ando Glaso Roma talent competition, Romane Cierhenia. On Friday evening, there will be the debut performance of Ruva – a dance show which showcases top Roma dancers and musicians from around Scotland and England.

It was created in collaboration with the charity Kaskosan, which aims to support Roma people living in the UK and fight misinformation about them through cultural content such as films, dramas and art performances before the night ends with a performance from Jan Bendig – the 2009 winner of Pop Idol, Superstar.

Speaking about the event, Mr Lang said: “We are thrilled to host our second Roma Festival in Glasgow, bringing together an incredible array of Roma talent from across the UK and Europe.

Read More: 

“By celebrating our traditions and contemporary expressions, we aim to foster a sense of community and pride while educating and inspiring others. It is an honour to see this festival grow, providing a platform where tradition meets innovation, creating unforgettable moments for everyone involved.”

Ando Glaso Roma also undertakes a lot of youth work for young Roma people, and as Janos added: “all of our projects are connected”, the Friday’s celebration includes ZOR, Ando Glaso Roma’s youth group, which is supported by the Youth Music Initiative, and aims to connect Roma youth with their culture through music.

Events on the 7th of September “dig deeper” into Roma culture, and includes a human library, which is an informal Q+A where attendees can “ask anything” about Roma culture. There will also be a screening of Stacey Dooley’s “Roma Kids”, following recent events in Leeds.

The screening wasn’t initially planned, as the festival more often focuses on celebrating Roma culture, but it was added in response to the high-profile case of four Roma children being taken from their homes in England that sparked trouble on the streets. 

Mr Lang believes ‘its important that people see where fear comes from’, as the documentary shows the traumas of disproportionate police removals of Roma children from their families in Hungary, as the screening aims to convey why there was such panic and fear among the community in Leeds when the children were removed.

With the Tommy Robinson backed ‘Pro-UK’ far right rally due to take place on the same day of the event, the organisers insist they weren’t to be put off from having their second day and hope they have nothing to worry about with Scotland so far being unaffected by the trouble that took place in England during similar rallies last month.

He continued: “Scotland is quite good at not having these problems like down south, but fingers crossed there’s no issues.”

Saturday’s events also include a concert in the evening, starring TuFlamenco as well as Rootless, a fusion of Indian and Roma musicians, with a ‘great big party to finish’.

The festival’s aim is to “create tangible, real work and real opportunities” in the creative industry for Roma youth, as there are “few opportunities” for young aspiring Roma musicians to “enter the mainstream”.

Founder Janos LangFounder Janos Lang (Image: Mark Cameron)

Ando Glaso Roma focuses on “intangible cultural heritage”, highly valuing Roma music as a “huge legacy”. The festival aims to help young Roma people gain opportunities in creative fields by making use of and celebrating significant aspects of their Roma culture such as music, especially as work in creative fields become “increasingly difficult” to find.

One main aim for the organisers is to work on relations between Roma communities and the mainstream of Glasgow, but Mr Lang insists it is more about ‘collaboration’ rather than ‘integration’.

He added that Roma communities are ‘small and fragmented’ and that – especially in Scotland – many families are ‘second or third generation’ so he hopes to see more young people living outside their small communities, working in successful leadership roles in creative fields but believes both communities ‘need to be encouraged to seek collaboration’.

Tickets for the Ando Glaso Roma Festival 2024 are on sale now, priced at £27.80 for a one-day pass or £44.04 for the full festival. To book tickets, visit andoglaso.org.