Description

The Busó Festivities in Mohács, Hungary, are an annual carnival celebration deeply rooted in local tradition and culture, typically coinciding with Shrove Tuesday or Carnival season. This vibrant event merges Hungarian folklore, pagan customs, and Christian beliefs into a dynamic spectacle.

Throughout the Busó Festivities, participants don elaborate traditional attire, complete with iconic Busó masks crafted from wood, featuring exaggerated facial features like prominent noses, bushy mustaches, and horns. Armed with traditional wooden rattles and whips, the Busós take to the streets in a lively parade.

Dating back to ancient customs marking the transition from winter to spring and steeped in local lore, the festival symbolizes the expulsion of winter and malevolent spirits by the Busós, believed to embody the spirits of the Danube River. The highlight of the festivities is the spirited Busó Parade, where revelers march accompanied by music and dancing, culminating in a symbolic ritual to "bury" winter, often by burning a straw effigy or casting it into the river.

Recognized for its cultural significance, the Busó Festivities of Mohács have earned a place on UNESCO's Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity since 2009, preserving and celebrating this cherished tradition for generations to come.

Engraver: Gábor Gáti