The Easter sprinkling (“locsolkodás”) of the BME Folk Dance Ensemble
Budapest, 2024
Around 40 male members of the BME Folk Dance Ensemble (MENTE) met at the Boráros square just before 7pm on Easter Monday, 1 April 2024. The ensemble hosted by the Budapest University of Technology and Economics has about 150 active members, 500 in total. The sprinkling (in Hungarian “locsolkodás”), which started six years ago, has become a tradition for them. Peter (nicknamed Adorján) led the action, they sprinkled about fifty girls at five locations. In addition to sprinkling, dancing is also a mandatory element. The unusual morning sounds aroused the curiosity of many local residents. They had never seen anything like it. No one was bothered by the loud folk music, to which the only female member of the group, Viki, the main fiddler, played the music and her partner accompanied her on viola. Usually, poems precede the act of sprinkling; this time, they were written by the boys themselves. This year, a poem written in a Balassi stanza prevailed. However, no literary analysis followed, as the boys quickly got to the point, storming the girls with their buckets. After that, the cups got out of the cupboards, and there were several tpyes of pálinka and bitter to choose from. The girls could also be proud of themselves: they had baked cakes and made sandwiches enough for an army at each location. After eating, they returned to the dance floor, be it the space between communist-built apartment blocks next to Bikás Park, the interior courtyard of a typical appartment building in the vicinity of centre’s main the boulevard or a sleepy inner garden. Those who were not dancing were singing. The strange company was also noticed by many on the way; it is rare to see young people dressed in traditional folk costumes marching to music in Budapest. However, anytime throughout the day, whether I looked at elderly people passing by on street, at children peeking at us from windows or even at the slightly startled passengers of metro 4 watching the dance of the boys, I could see that we all understood the miracle. Without any words.
