Bibi (Romani cult)

Bibijako Dive (Auntie Day) is a religious holiday celebrated by the majority of Orthodox Christian Romani people and, to a lesser degree, Muslim Roma from the Balkans and in the diaspora.

In addition to Bibi, many Roma families celebrate its own Slava (such as Babo Fingo at Kakava), as well as other religious holidays, such as Easter, Christmas, and Bayram (Turkey).

On the Day of celebration, after the service in the Orthodox Church, the Roma go on a procession, carrying the cake and candles and shouting: "To the health of Bibi (Auntie)!"

Dragoljub Acković, the author of two monographs on Bibi (2004; 2010), also reports that ethnographic literature does not contain information on the celebration of Bibijako Djive by Muslim Roma.

However, in the 2010 monograph Acković references information gathered among Muslim Roma from Prizren, Uroševac or Ferizaj (Kosovo) and Belgrade (the capital of Serbia) which indicates that these Muslim Roman communities celebrated Bibijako Djive for the sake of protecting their children from disease, but that the celebration of the Bibi cult lasts an entire month, from 31 January to 1 March.