Farsang

The time period after 6th January (Epiphany) until Ash Wednesday (hamvazószerda) is called farsang (carnival) in Hungary. From the religious aspect this is a time to enjoy partying and eating before the start of Lent (40 days of fasting leading up to Easter, ). As today not many people are actually fasting the eating aspect has lost its importance.

In Hungary the farsang celebrations usually mean that small children in kindergarden and primary school dress up in costumes (pretty much like American children at halloween but not so spooky) and they have a party, eat cake or something etc. Their mothers are already busy with buying costumes or trying to sew one. I've seen some mums buying masks in the Interspar today. Teenagers and young people also go out and party but dressing up in costumes is less common than in the case of small children.

Some old traditions connected to farsang are eating donuts called fánk (pronounced like "funk"). It is a possible carneval game to bake numbers on pieces of paper into the donuts and people who eat the donuts may win things based on the numbers. So it's kind of a raffle.

There are all sorts of old folk traditions connected to farsang about which I'm not going to write this time. In some villages they may be celebrated for attracting tourists. An old tradition which might be kept today to some extent is that weddings are not supposed to be organized during Lent.


Vocabulary

carnival ...............................farsang
Epiphany..............................Vízkereszt (6th January)
Lent ..................................... Nagyböjt
Ash Wednesday.................. Hamvazószerda (40th day before Palm Sunday)
Palm Sunday .......................Virágvasárnap (Sunday before Easter)
Easter Monday.....................Húsvét Hétfő
to fast.................................... böjtölni
fast ........................................böjt
costume ................................jelmez
donut(doughnut) ................fánk, farsangi fánk