The Year’s Largest Spring Celebration in Mohács

MTI-Hungary Today 2025.02.26.

The six-day Mohács carnival, with hundreds of activities and 24 venues, kicks off on Thursday with a parade, procession of Busó groups, “jankeles,” and masquerades.

According to the organizers, this year’s largest spring celebration, held between February 27 and March 4, will be attended by more than 2,600 masqueraders and 73 groups of “busós.” On the first day of the event, the first carnival procession of the busó parade will start, followed by a free carnival of children masqueraders – including the jankeles, known for their ragged costumes.

Fact

The official website of the event explains the tradition: In Mohács, located in southern Hungary near the Croatian border, the origin of the tradition has two explanations. The indigenous Šokci who fled to the swamplands of the island of Mohács, fed up with being enslaved, dressed in frightening masks, and using self-made noise-making devices, crossed the Danube in boats under the cover of night and drove the Turks out of Mohács. This explanation has hardly any historical basis. It is more likely that the Šokci, who originated from the Balkans, brought the custom from their former homeland, and in Mohács it was further developed and took its present form. The busó is a figure wearing a mask traditionally painted with animal blood and wearing a sheepskin. The busós are accompanied by the jankeles, whose role is to keep the street people, especially children, away from the busós. With their bags filled with ash, flour, or sawdust, they beat the taunting hordes of children.

Photo: MTI/Kacsúr Tamás

As tradition has it, the most spectacular events of the carnival are held on Carnival Sunday. On March 2, after noon, the busós cross the Danube in a boat, parade through the city center, launch the carnival coffin, inaugurate new busós, and light a huge bonfire in the city square.

The organizers are expecting around 100,000 visitors over the six days of the event, including 40,000 on Saturday and Sunday, and a large crowd in the Danube-front city on Tuesday. They pointed out that due to the large-scale construction and investments currently underway in the city, parking facilities are limited, so visitors are advised to plan their travel in advance and use public transport wherever possible.

In 2009, UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, was the first to add the busó procession to its representative list of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Carnival Extravaganza Awaits Visitors at the Museum of Ethnography

The programs include a concert, documentary screening, and a matinee, among others.Continue reading

Via MTI; Featured picture: MTI/Kacsúr Tamás