Roma City Hamburg

Djurdevdan is the spring festival of the Sintizze and Romnja, which is celebrated beyond the denominational boundaries. This day celebrates the victory of St. George over the dragon, the destruction of evil. This day also scares away the ghosts of winter. Everything becomes new. For decades, the festival was celebrated in Hamburg at Ölmühlenpark in the Karoviertel, where large parts of the community reside. But with gentrification, voices grew louder that would not tolerate this festival: too loud, too many people, too much trash. The community was asked to leave. The festivities had to move and have now been held at the Schröderstift for several years. This process describes the centuries-old fate of the Sintizze and Romnja: they are not tolerated, they are expelled, they have to move on. It is not the romance of the nomadic life that makes them move on, it is always the expulsion.With the Djurdevdan parade we want to remind that the community of Sintizze and Romnja is still today exposed to fierce discrimination and is often powerless in the face of systemic exclusion. The parade is a procession of remembrance and hope for victory over hate and exclusion.