Famous Traditions of Mohács and Alicante Captured in Photo Exhibition

An exciting photo exhibition will open on February 9, in Mohács (southern Hungary), reports Turizmus.com. Two countries, two cities, and two cultures meet in the art of photographers Bruno Vigneron and Balázs Farkas-Mohi. The best-known traditions of two cities 3,000 kilometers apart, are in dialogue with each other.

The tradition of the Bonfires of Saint John celebration goes back centuries in Spain, including in the city of Alicante. Although the authorities have often tried to ban the celebrations on the shortest night of the year, year after year the people of Alicante have taken to the streets, carrying puppets around, setting bonfires, and burning them as a symbol of the destruction of evil.

In 1928, an association was set up to promote the city as a tourist destination, and began to organize the city’s St. John’s Eve celebrations, which have now become a tourist attraction. The week-long celebrations, including festivities, parades, fireworks, and puppet burnings, culminate in the ‘noche de San Juan.’

 

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The carnival of the Mohács people is also a celebration of the end of winter and a fertility charm in the traditions of many others. In the olden days, groups of people used to go from house to house to perform their purifying, abundance-evoking rituals, for which they received food and drink from the farmers in return.

Today, the Mohács Busó Carnival (Busójárás) has also become a tourist attraction,

with tens of thousands of people traveling to the city to admire the dressed-up busós (people wearing traditional masks) who celebrate the end of winter and the beginning of spring by making a great amount of noise on the banks of the Danube and in the surrounding streets.

At dusk, the busós return to the main square and dance and frolic with the people around a huge bonfire. In 2009, UNESCO declared the Mohács Busó Carnival part of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, making it the first Hungarian heritage item to be included on the representative list.

The photo exhibition is organized by the Cervantes Institute in Budapest and the Hungarian Open Air Museum (Szentendre Skanzen). 

Via Turizmus.com; Featured image via Instagram/folkfoto.hu