The fire is kept alight throughout the whole wake and the Roma Gypsies sing traditional and religious songs around midnight ater prayers. Traditional Roma Gypsy Wake in the house of and for the late King of the Roma Gypsies Florin Cioaba.
Florin Tănase Cioabă (1954 – 18 August 2013) was a Romanian Romani Pentecostal minister and self-proclaimed "King of Roma around the world". He died on 18 August 2013 of cardiac arrest at Akdeniz Üniversitesi in Antalya. He was 58 years old.
In September 2003, Florin Cioaba sparked controversy when he married his 12 year-old daughter Ana-Maria to Mihai Bitrita, a Roma boy aged 15. However, following the wave of criticism, he promised to work to uproot the tradition of child marriages among the Roma. Florin Cioaba also encouraged Roma families to send their children to school during his attempt to fight poverty resulting from a lack of education.
Cioaba was elected president of the International Romani Union in April this year