WILD FUN IN COSTUME, Mischief Under the Masks Published 10/01/2025

WILD FUN IN COSTUME, Mischief Under the Masks

If you're looking to bid farewell to winter and welcome spring with a dash of fun, mark your calendar for the carnival season

Did you know that in Croatia, besides the iconic zvončari (bellmen), there are many other interesting characters? During the carnival season in Baranja, masked figures known as buše roam from village to village, visiting the villages across Baranja in Croatia as well as Croatian villages in Hungary. Part of the same tradition is the UNESCO intangible cultural heritage known as the Busójárás (Buše Parade) held in Mohács, Hungary, just days before Ash Wednesday. Traditionally, Baranja’s fašange (carnival) season spanned three days before Lent, from Sunday to Tuesday, however due to modern schedules, most of these gatherings now take place over the weekend.

Fašange Season

In the past, buše would visit homes, ensuring to make lots of noise with their bagpipes, singing and dancing to tamburica music, performing playful antics and ritual acts aimed at driving away winter and ushering in a bountiful new season. These days, the buše parade is more organised, with the once-wild, spontaneous behaviour now somewhat reined in. In Croatian villages along the Danube, like Draž, Gajić, Topolje, and Duboševica, the 2025 Baranja's buše season runs from February 28 to March 4, with the biggest celebrations to be held in Baranjsko Petrovo Selo, where the famous Petaračke buše reign from March 2 to 4. The most traditional masks will show up in the Buše and Bagpipes Parade on Saturday, March 1, in Draž, with the fun continuing on Sunday in Baranjsko Petrovo Selo, lasting through Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday. On Sunday before the main events, Male Buše (Little Buše) will take place in Baranjsko Petrovo Selo, where children dress in folk costumes and wear veils or scarves over their faces.

More information on Fašange - Baranja Buše: www.tz-draz.hr

Lovely and Frightful

There are two types of the Baranja buše: the lovely and the frightful. The frightful buše wear wooden masks with animalistic features, horns, and bells, while the lovely buše dress in traditional folk costumes and veils, often impersonating the opposite gender. Don’t be afraid of them — they’re here to chase away winter’s evil spirits and welcome the long-awaited spring. Legend has it that during the expulsion of the Ottomans in the late 17th century, these fearsome-looking buše managed to scare off Turkish troops, liberating Baranja. The locals, known as Šokci are said to have disguised themselves into fearsome creatures using tools from their surroundings, including animal horns, bells, and carved wooden masks, creating a clamour that frightened the Ottoman soldiers into retreat.

More information on Petaračke Buše: www.facebook.com/petarackebuse

Đakovački bušari

Besides the Baranja buše, which are a more intimate event, there are bigger festivals like the Đakovački Bušari, where carnival groups from all over Croatia and beyond gather in Đakovo. Celebrating its 31st year in 2025, Đakovački Bušari will revive traditional carnival customs with songs, dances, and festivities, transforming the streets of Đakovo on February 22-23, so what better invitation to to be part of the parade and feel the joy of the largest carnival event in eastern Croatia. The event includes Bušarenje — a stroll along Đakovo's main street, showcasing traditional products, street performers, painters, jugglers, stilt-walkers, and clowns, followed by a grand parade and carnival horse-riding on Sunday.

More information: www.visitdjakovo.com

Carnival Horse-Riding

Carnival horse-riding is a tradition tied to the old Military Frontier days, when border guards in ceremonial attire would visit their fellow guards at border posts, bringing food and drink to celebrate. Nowadays, this custom is popular along the Sava River and is gaining popularity in other parts of Slavonia and Baranja, like Čepin, Bistrinci, Branjin Vrh, Tenja, Piškorevci, etc.

Kakasütés in Vardarac

Lastly, let us mention another unique carnival custom of the Hungarian community in the Croatian part of Baranja. On the weekend before Shrove Tuesday, a Hungarian carnival custom known as Kakasütés takes place in Vardarac. This is a festive parade of horse-drawn carts winding through the village with screams and squeals and songs, where young men dressed in rooster-themed costumes and masks hop down from the carts to “dance” around women who await the loud parade at their homes.

More information: www.tzo-bilje.hr

Vukojevački Starcevi Old Men from Vukojevci

"Vukojevački starcevi" is a carnival custom from the mid-19th century in the village of Vukojevci near Našice. The Old Men, masked men, go around the village making noise, performing jokes and obscene games, and the villagers welcome them in their yards with songs, food and drinks. The cone-shaped mask covers their head and neck, and the front of the mask is framed with flowers made of multi-colored crepe paper. If you happen to be late for the event, over the weekend before Ash Wednesday, you can have fun with the "Old Men" until late into the night in the village community center.

More information: www.facebook.com/hkd.vukojevci

We hope these lively events inspire you to visit Slavonia and Baranja to see off winter and welcome spring. We might even reveal that our region is the most beautiful in spring, which means you should definitely return. And don’t worry — we won’t let buše scare you away!

Carnival events in 2025

22.-23.2., Đakovački bušari in Đakovo, www.visitdjakovo.com

28.2.-4.3., Fašange - Baranjske buše in Draž, Gajić, Topolje, Duboševica (Baranja), www.tz-draz.hr

1.-2.3., Kakasütés in Vardarac (Baranja), www.tzo-bilje.hr

2.-4. 3., Petaračke buše in Baranjsko Petrovo Selo (Baranja), www.facebook.com/petarackebuse

Written by Mislav Matišić