Winter-bashing at its Best - Busós overran Arács over the weekend

Costumed carnival parades in Arács have been a tradition for years. This year the locals were joined by the Klepetalo Busó Group, dressed in traditional busó costumes. But what exactly is a busó costume, you may ask? A busó wears a sheepskin coat turned inside out, rough white canvas trousers stuffed with straw, bells dangling from their rope belt and East-European type moccasins or boots on their feet. But no busó would be a true busó without a scary mask, traditionally carved out of willow wood painted red with animal blood, with a sheepskin hood and decorated with horns of ram, goat, or cattle. Of particular interest is that sometimes a doughnut is stuck on the point of the horns.

And if there are doughnuts, there must also be (and there was) doughnut-tasting. Should someone not hear of the procession before, they would certainly have heard it as the busós marched through the streets in their costumes, shaking their bells and cymbals, making as much noise as possible. The local concert brass band joined the procession and noisemaking. The festivities were held in several venues of the village. Children took part in a craft workshop at the Arács People's House in the morning, the parade itself ended at St Benedict's High School, where a fun fair, raffle, costume contest were held, hot drinks and greasy bread were served, and a music bar assured a festive atmosphere. The highlight was setting the ‘kiszebáb’ – a straw puppet – on fire. (According to legend, burning the ‘kiszebáb’ chases all worries and miseries away). These photos demonstrate how best to chase the winter cold away.