A culture on the move

As you'd expect from a festival celebrating Roma and Gypsy music and culture, The 1000 Year Journey has kept progressing. First held in 2000, this event tapped into a burgeoning wave of interest in gipsy roots, thanks to crossover talents such as Romania's Taraf De Ha'douks.

'This time around, there's further focus on contemporary names,' explains Bryn Ormrod, the Barbican's music programmer. 'Another theme we've touched upon is the dissolution of the Soviet Union - the idea of walls coming down and people reconnecting with their roots.'

There's certainly a connection between generations here; tonight's first show features Ukrainian-born rocker Eugene H¸tz, also famed as the spirited frontman of Gogol Bordello, performing with Russian Roma legends the Kolpakov Trio (7.30pm, £10 to £20); they're supported by the funky fusion of Bucharest's Mahala Rai Banda.

Other exciting highlights include the heady rhythms of Balkan brass ensemble Fanfare Ciocarlia tomorrow; they're joined by notable guests, including acclaimed young American duo A Hawk And A Hacksaw, whose Eastern Europeaninspired sounds are boosted here by Hungary's multi-faceted Hun Hangar Ensemble. On Friday, Taraf De Ha'douks promise to 'regipsify' several classical works including Bartok.

The mainstream has had an undeniably contrary approach to gipsy culture, from fashionable 'boho chic' to media scares about 'travellers'. Yet The 1000 Year Journey isn't an overtly political event, instead offering insight through individual perspectives, a cinema programme spanning documentaries to contemporary romance, interactive workshops and Freestage events each Saturday.

It also extends our scope beyond the well-documented Balkan influence and includes a mixed bill of Turkish and Greek musicians, led by Selim Sesler and Vassilis Saleas, who is joined by Londonbased vocalist Athena Andreadis on Saturday. Andreadis says: 'Saleas comes from a gipsy Roma family; I'm bilingual and bicultural - I've lived in Greece for half my life but I recorded my album with English lyrics and traditional rhythms.

'Musically, we owe a lot to gipsy culture. I'm really excited about performing with such a legend and also the idea of exploring heritage from different perspectives and seeing where we meet.' Ormrod agrees that there's a common thread throughout this broad-ranging festival. 'It's riotous, it's raucous, there's lots of virtuosity and Oriental influences. It's about a wild celebration of life.'

Arwa Haider

Today until June 16, Barbican, Silk Street EC2, various times and prices. Tel: 0845 120 7550. www.barbican.org.uk Tube: Barbican/Moorgate