Abstract
In the chapter "Celebration as a means of social communication", I present the course of celebrations in several Vlach Roma families living in a small North Bohemian town. It is characteristic of a celebration that it has a festive, group and ritual nature, but its deeper meaning is that it serves as a means of mutual communication between the individuals and the group to which they belong.
It connects the members of the community into an organic unit and strengthens their sense of awareness of belonging to this unit, while helping the individuals to find their identity and their position within the unit. The celebrations that the ethnic group celebrates together with the majority can have a positive effect on its integration into mainstream society.
Even though they celebrate mostly on the same occasions as the majority, the celebrations may have not only a different course, but also their meaning may be understood differently.