HU_booklet_text_EN

MOHÁCS, THE BUSÓJÁRÁS CELEBRATION
T
he “busójárás” (Hungarian for Busówalking)
is a fun carnival which is the folk
tradition of the Sokác of Mohács. The traditional
Buso dress is the same as it is today:
made of a fur coat with a painted mask carved
out of wood. They are accompanied by the
Jankels, whose role is to keep the people of
the street away from them, which they accomplish
by sprinkling ash, flour, and sawdust
at the passers-by who jeer at them – primarily
children. The women with veiled faces and
the witches are an inevitable part of the parade.
Every year thousands of visitors view the
festivities, the festival, the crossing of the Danube,
and the huge bonfire in the main square,
which symbolizes winter, and in which a coffin
is burned, and the dance that is danced in
a circle around it. The special winter carnival
did not escape the attention of many foreigners,
and every year the festivities are visited
by people from abroad, while street vendors
help make the festival even more lively. As a
deserved recognition, the busójárás was inducted
in 2009 into the Representative List of
the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
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