The statues of the Saintes I.
© Bela Varadi
The small French seaside town of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer holds one of the most important religious gypsy festivals every year on May 24th and 25th. Hundreds and thousands of Gypsies, Travelers, Roma and Gypsies flock to the handful of streets in the Provençal port city to celebrate the patron saint of Gypsies, Sara-la-Kali or Saint Sarah.
The half-gypsy Sophie took part in the event for the first time. Sophie was not raised as a gypsy, and all her life she felt that she was missing something, the gypsy self. The grandmother was taken by the Nazis and escaped from Porrajmos. His family decided to abandon their French gypsy name, Limberger, to protect the younger generations, and his father denied their gypsy identity.