"Busó-walking" is a
traditional festivity that has been inscribed on the Representative List of
Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity of the UNESCO in 2009. Hungaricum
since 2012.
Locals explain the Carnival with two related but different legends:
According to the most popular legend, during the Ottoman times of the territory people from Mohács
fled the town, and started living in the nearby swamps and woods to avoid
Ottoman (Turkish) troops. One night, while they were sitting and talking around
the fire, an old Sokac man appeared suddenly from nowhere, and said to them:
"Don't be afraid, your lives will soon turn to good and you'll return to
your homes. Until that time, prepare for the battle, carve various weapons and
scary masks for yourselves, and wait for a stormy night when a masked knight
will come to you." He disappeared as suddenly as he arrived. The refugees
followed his orders, and some days later, on a stormy night, the knight
arrived. He ordered them to put on their masks and go back to Mohács,
making as much noise as possible. They followed his lead.
The Turks were so
frightened by the noise, the masks, and the storm in the night, that they
thought demons were attacking them, and they ran away from the town before
sunrise.
In the older, less popular story, the Busós are scaring away not the Turks but Winter itself.
And that is why we were there and
spent two ultra cheerful days with Juli and Noémi as fellow travellers at the southest Baranya county of Hungary with the purpose of chasing away
the winter. We did not have the chance to be prepared for the weekend well in
advance. As it was quite spontaneous, it
was hard to find accomodation on the previous day because Mohács attracts
visitors from all over the world. What we finally found was the two last free
room in a wonderful place named Szálka. 40 min drive to Mohács that is worth every miles. Picturesque location, big fishing lake, swans, great opportunities
for hiking and SILENCE.
The silence was unbelievable in the evening. When I
opened the window, I hardly believed my ears. Did I become deaf? Dio I hear
well that I hear nothing? Is it real? I just pricked my ears and no niose.
Really nothing. I don't remember if I ever heard such silence. This made me to
make a night walk inside the village after the awesome dinner. I felt that I
need to stop again and again not to disturb the beautiful silence by my steps
and just enjoy the noiseless peace.
Perfect contrast with Mohács
where loud festive folk music, parades, dancing, Busós in traditional masquerade,
cow bells, clappers meet with noisy success. For me, the event means hilarious humour
with a little bit of thrill and joshing. The city was fully filled with masked
Busós who did not miss to smoke the girls, to present with a huge muttony hug, to
pose readily, to take anybody to dance, to rumple in a friendly way. I was wearing
my biggest smile all day long. :-)
We scheduled other kind of engagement to make the children extremely happy and visited the thermal spa in Siklós. Perfect way for recharging and spending time with. Not the 6-day event but the weekend was closed with the gigantic burning bonfire (and a tasty gyros).
