The Busójárás (meaning "Busó-walking") is an annual celebration of the Croats living in the town of Mohács, Hungary held at the end of the carnival season ("Farsang" as it is known in Hungary), ending the day before Ash Wednesday. The celebration features Busós (people wearing traditional masks) and includes folk music, masquerading, parades and dancing.
Busójárás lasts six days, usually during February. It starts on a Thursday, followed by the Kisfarsang (Little Farsang) carnival on Friday, with the biggest celebration, Farsang vasárnap (Farsang Sunday) on the seventh Sunday before Easter; the celebration then ends with Farsangtemetés (Burial of Farsang) on the following Tuesday. (wikipedia)
Mohács is about 50 min by bus from Pécs...although I had a fever several days before and was still on antibiotics, Keith and I felt we NEEDED to partake in Busójárás. There are two different stories around the tradition--one is chasing off the Turks when they invaded Mohács during the spread of the Ottoman Empire and the other involves chasing off winter.
Busójárás lasts six days, usually during February. It starts on a Thursday, followed by the Kisfarsang (Little Farsang) carnival on Friday, with the biggest celebration, Farsang vasárnap (Farsang Sunday) on the seventh Sunday before Easter; the celebration then ends with Farsangtemetés (Burial of Farsang) on the following Tuesday. (wikipedia)
We haven't purchased many Hungarian souvenirs...we have Keith's winter hat (which all of our Hungarian friends say, "Oh, my grandfather has a hat like that...") so we thought a Busó mask would be a great addition to commemorate our trip.
Pictured above is Keith and his new mask. The artist who made it grew up in Mohács and signed the back with a blue pen...making it even more meaningful to us. Keith vows to chase away winter every year from here on out. :)
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