Carnival Traditions that Are Still Alive Today

Carnival is one of the most exciting times of the year: masks, noisy celebrations, and ancient rituals take center stage. Its roots go back to traditions celebrating the end of winter and fertility and renewal, which have been enriched with new meanings over the centuries. These customs are still alive and well in Hungary today: many towns and villages hold special carnival celebrations, where the banishment of winter sometimes takes on quite astonishing forms.

The Busójárás (“Busó March”) in Mohács (southern Hungary) has been on UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage since 2009, and since 2012 it has been considered a Hungaricum, which primarily signifies the success of the citizens of Mohács, the busó groups, mask carvers, and costume makers. This year, the Busó Carnival will be held from February 12 to 17. Over six days, more than 140 programs await visitors at 27 locations: dance houses, folk art and craft fairs, concerts, cooking demonstrations, children’s programs, and carnival games will fill the city.

Busó Carnival in Mohács. Photo: MTI/Kacsúr Tamás

The spectacular busó parade takes place on February 15, Carnival Sunday, with Kóló Square as its center. This is where the costumed busós (monsters) gather, and where the groups crossing the Danube by boat also arrive. The various groups – the cannoners, carters, devil wheelers, horn blowers, turtles and other busós – set off along the main street towards the town’s main square to the sound of the old muzzle-loading busó cannon.

After the parade, the free carnival begins, and the celebration continues with noisy festivities on the banks of the Danube and in the surrounding streets.

At dusk, the busó monsters return to the main square, where they dance and joke around a huge bonfire to end Carnival Sunday. However, the festivities do not end there: on Shrove Tuesday, February 17, another bonfire is lit, on which a coffin symbolizing winter is burned. The bonfire, around which people dance, symbolizes both the farewell to the cold season and the welcoming of spring.

The village of Moha, near Székesfehérvár (central Hungary), preserves a truly unique carnival tradition: tikverőzés, which has been included in the national register of intangible cultural heritage since 2011. This noisy, playful custom comes to life on the last day of carnival, Shrove Tuesday.

Bonfire at the Busó Carnival. Photo: MTI/Kacsúr Tamás

Young men between the ages of 14 and 20 dress up in characteristic costumes: clowns decorated with rags, straw men in white clothes, and chimney sweeps who bring good luck, while the youngest participants appear as girls. The masqueraders walk through the village, going from house to house and yard to yard, collecting eggs found in chicken coops, which are symbols of abundance and fertility.

Fact

Mohai tikverőzés

The name tikverőzés refers to the symbolic “beating of chickens”: the clowns use their sticks to symbolically beat the chickens, thereby helping their fertility. Smearing with soot is also part of the tradition: participants smear soot on the hosts, passers-by, and interested onlookers – especially girls, women, and the large numbers of children who arrive every year.

Nowadays, in addition to eggs, doughnuts and wine await the egg collectors at the houses, and the hundreds of eggs collected are used to make scrambled eggs for the evening’s festivities. This feast and dance marks the end of carnival for the villagers.

Today is Epiphany: Christmas is Over, Carnival Season Begins