According to a piece over at our sister site Caboodle.hu, the town of Mohács located in the south of the country is prepared to nominate its annual Busójárás to be included in UNESCO’s intellectual cultural world heritage list. If you’ve ever been to the Busójárás, however, you’ll be well aware that it’s pretty much become an excuse for local men hiding behind masks to get obscenely drunk during the day and then go around and grope all the women tourists in town for this annual version of carnival.
The Busójárás, which commemorates the “busós,” who were the locals that carved devilish masks and went around scaring the Ottomans during the Turkish Occupation, is nowadays meant to be a Hungarian version of Mardi Gras, complete with the “burying of winter” during twilight by throwing a casket into the Danube. Unlike Mardi Gras, however, which is known primarily for its drunken debauchery and flashing for beads, the Busójárás is marketed as much more of a family-friendly event, no doubt part of the whole UNESCO bid thing.
Despite that, it’s still worth checking out at least once in your life, but if you’re a woman, you might want to bring some pepper spray with you. Or a giant club.
Why should not women dress up as ‘Busós’ and do a bit of ‘groping’ on their own account?
The whole affair is vaguely reminiscent of that wonderful annual piss-up in Lerwick (Shetland Islands) called ‘Up Helly Aa’. Here the Guiser Squads process through them town and set fire to a replica Viking drakar (boat) and go back to their ‘halls’ and get absolutely “rat arsed”. They also used to leave flaming tar barrels outside unpopular worthies houses. They now just post on Lerwick Market Cross a satirical ‘Bill’ or proclamation, lampooning local worthies.
It has all the qualities of the annual Ottery St Mary’s Tar Barrel rolling feast.
Sorry I cannot post the pictures
It might be fun if the ‘Busós’ combined with these two ‘rituals’ as Up Helly Aa is held in January and the self-incineration races at Ottery St Mary is in Autumn.
I’m very sad, that a person or journalist name our cultural festival as a pornstar event.
Unfortunately this person knows nothing about the history of Busójárás.
I would like to say you (the author of this article), that visitors are much more drunken that the Busos.
Furthermore, the grope of the women comes from the past, from the history of Busójárás. It means, that Busos try to advance prolification for the year. Please read some history and some historical article about the Busójárás.
Have you ever been in Mohács, at Busójárás?
Do not talk about things what you do not know.
We are not the Balkan.
B.B. (a Busó)
@MOHACS,
Please reread the article. I never once named it a pornstar event, simply a drunken gropefest. You in your own comment admitted that groping women is a “traditional” part of the festivities. Incidentally, yes, I have been to the Busójárás, as these are my pictures in the article. I could have posted quite a few photographs of the locals getting drunk before noon, but ultimately decided against it. But thanks for reading!
I cannot accept your article.
As I see you cut out some sentences from the text but I saw the original one.
I have a question.
Where are you come from? Aree you Hungarian or a foreigner?
As I see you are Hungarian, and as I think you are from Budapest.
It is the worst thing, that we Hungarians are not able to co-operate, and you as a Hungarian give fail and bad informations about one of Hungary’s biggest festivals.
@MOHACS,
The text I cut out was a link to a completely unrelated article which said nothing about the Busójárás. And yes I’m a Hungarian, more or less from Budapest. But the fact remains that when I went to the Busójárás in 2003, the women in our group had to be protected from the drunk men in masks trying to grope them. And as I wrote in the last paragraph of the article, I recommend people go see it at least once in their lives. Don’t try to make this a “Budapest against the countryside” argument. You yourself admitted the masked men go around trying to grope women in your original comment, and that’s what this article is about.
I know Mohács extremely well, worked there and live very near there. I know the Buso festivities and they are a source of good merriment and fun with children involved as well.
Of course much alcohol is consumed but your article was far too melodramatic and the implications just too exaggerated.
Here I must agree with ‘Mohacs’ and his comments.
Mohács,a great little town by the Danube,well worth a visit (even for ladies) at any time of the year.
Ricsi, thank you for your comment. You are totally right.
Zoltan, it is not a “Budapest against the countryside” argument.
My only problem is that you give fail and bad information about the Buso Carnival.
I see as a Buso, that at least 75% of the women enjoy and feel themselves well when a Buso see that she is a nice girl and try to make some fun with her.
I think you should not comment this article in the Internet, because it is your own and alternative opinion about the Buso Carnival.
@Mohacs
75% of women enjoy it? As a woman, I can tell you women DO NOT enjoy being groped, I think you’d find most of them find being groped by drunks in masks frightening. Imagine drunks groping your mother or sisters, do you think they feel good about it?? Imagine that.
My mother always is in the city during the Busójárás on Tuesday and there was a year when some Busós throw her onto the bonfire at the morning. But she knew that it was only a joke.
It is not against the women, it comes from the history of Busójárás. Read some historical article and see some document movies about Busójárás and you will understand why this groping exists.
You can save yourself if you do not come to the festival. From year to year more and more people are coming to the festival. It means that it is successful and people like it.
If you see groping as a joke, you can enjoy the festival, if you see as a bad thing you will feel yourself bad at the festival.
People have to accept this, because it is a tradition. It is not against women. Busós are making jokes with men too.
One more thing.
My problem is not with the personal opinions about and personal experiences from the festival.
My problem is that this article is a personal opinion which should not be commented on the Internet or in any other media.
And this groping is not like a sexual harrasment. It is just joke and it is not for frightening women and against them.