The nominations will be evaluated by the Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage at its sixth session in Bali, Indonesia, on November 22-29
The committee can pick 23 of the nominations for inscription.
?The importance of intangible cultural heritage is not the cultural manifestation itself but rather the wealth of knowledge and skills that is transmitted through it from one generation to the next,? according to UNESCO.
?Cultural heritage does not end at monuments and collections of objects. It also includes traditions or living expressions inherited from our ancestors and passed on to our descendants, such as oral traditions, performing arts, social practices, rituals, festive events, knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe or the knowledge and skills to produce traditional crafts.?
The Busó, an end-of-winter festival in Mohács, southern Hungary, was inscribed on the Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2009.
UNESCO described the Busó as ?a general emblem of the city and a commemoration of the great events of its history?.
?The Busó festivities at Mohács in southern Hungary are a six-day carnival in late February to mark the end of winter, named for the busós, frightening-looking costumed people (traditionally men) wearing wooden masks and big woolly cloaks. The festival is multifaceted, including a children?s costume contest, a display of the art of mask carvers and other craftspeople, the arrival of more than 500 busós in rowboats on the Danube for a march through the city alongside horse-drawn or motorized fantasy vehicles, the burning of a coffin symbolizing winter on a bonfire in the central square, and feasts and music throughout the city. The tradition originated with the Croatian minority in Mohács, but today the busó is a general emblem of the city and a commemoration of the great events of its history. More than a social event, the carnival is an expression of belonging to a city, a social group and a nation. It plays an important social role by offering a chance for self-expression in a communal setting. The arts underlying the festivities are preserved by self-organized groups of busós of all cultural backgrounds, many of whom pass on the techniques of mask carving and ritual celebration to younger generations.?
