Poklade – „what is behind the mask is the darkness of the subconcious” „Poklade” is a traditional festival that takes place in the city of Mohács in south Hungary. The event has mixed croatian, serbian and hungarian origins. Each year for a whole week, more than 60.000 people are coming from all over eastern europe and the balkans to see the monsters with wooden masks and huge sheep-fur cotumes, chasing away the winter.

The first written memories about this folk tradition are dated back to the end of the 18th century. The monsters called „busó” are accompanied by the „sokác” who has their faces covered with veil and the „jankele” who are wearing rags. During the day, busó groups are marching around on the streets with their strange self-built vechicles scaring and joking with the visitors. There are vendors, concerts, folk-dance shows and food trucks to entertain the people. In the evening, some locals open their gardens for guests for drinking and talking, while others are setting up bonfires on the streets. The event is very important for the locals to preserve their identies and to have social connection with the each other and the visitors. As the participants have their faces covered with masks, they are transforming into creatures from another world, to whom reg[1]ular rules and morals do not apply anymore.

They can keep their identities hidden, while they are in a peculiar mindset that has no connection with their everyday lives. The transformation is also fueled by alcohol, so the rage gets more intense by the night. Being in the „busó group” is getting more and more popular each year amongst the young people of the city, last year almost 2000 dressed up participants were registered. When I first went to see and photograph the event in 2016, I was immediately struck by the power and energy that’s being pre[1]sent. What made me intrested in documenting it, and visit it for 4 years in a row, was that raw primal pagan spirit the was obviously present during these days. I knew that I don’t want to make a regular reportage of the event, but rather to grasp that certain pulse that is coming straight from the ancient common subconcious.