Two days of events to mark Kakava, a version of Hıdırellez celebrations marked in the Turkic world and the Balkans, culminated with an event on Friday on the banks of the Tunca (Tundzha) river in the northwestern province of Edirne.

Kakava is a festival marked by the Roma community but draws a large number of people to the province every year, including tourists from Bulgaria and neighboring Edirne.

The festivities began on Thursday with the traditional burning of the Kakava bonfire, with revelers dancing on the streets until the early hours of Friday. When the new day dawned, a procession headed to the river, to make wishes and wash their faces as part of customs.

The festival, which marks the arrival of spring, has been postponed for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As Turkey lifted almost all restrictions related to the pandemic which lost its momentum this month, people, shedding their protective masks, enjoyed being together again.

Edirne is famous for the annual Kırkpınar oil wrestling tournament and the festival kicked off on the historic ground where the tournament is held, with people lighting up a giant bonfire. On Friday morning, people left pieces of paper they wrote down their wishes to Tunca while some tore apart branches of trees on the banks, to hang them on their doors to bring prosperity to their homes. Most participants in Friday’s event sought a complete end to the pandemic while some hung coronavirus masks on tree branches along the river banks.

The river ritual has another meaning for Roma. According to legend, Baba Fingo, the leader of the Roma who were being oppressed by the pharaoh in Egypt, led his people to the Red Sea to hide from Egyptian soldiers. Hence, the Roma community believes that Baba Fingo will come out from the river, resurrected, on the morning of May 6.

Along with guests and the local Roma community, the city’s administrators, including the mayor and the governor joined the festivities. "We are probably the only nation in the world which holds a festival at 5 a.m. in the morning and Edirne is likely the only place where you can see so many people coming here at this hour," Edirne Governor Ekrem Canalp told the reporters as he joined the crowd.