The period of abundance and merriment lasting from Three Kings to Ash Wednesday is called Shrove Tuesday. The carnival period in Kysuce was associated with numerous weddings and occasional entertainment events.
The Carnival season was the time when people celebrated the end of winter. Baking donuts and burying the bass are the traditions integrally connected to this part of the year.
In the past, carnivals involved visiting houses in masks of a gypsy, bridegroom and bride masks, all of this accompanied by music. Housewives were giving them eggs, sausages, and bacon, which they impaled on a "sabre" (stick). On the last Shrove Tuesday, a dance party was held, everything was eaten and drunk until midnight, because fasting began then.
A bell ringer went to carnivals with a municipal servant who was called a drummer and was entrusted with announcing municipal news and events. The drummer was carrying a bag to be given grain and eggs, bacon and sausage was stuck on his stick. It was a reward for the ringer and the drummer in return of their service throughout the year. They sang folk songs, and wished a good harvest, good health to the house owner, marriage to the girl living in the house and a clever bride to the young man in the house.
On the Tuesday before Ash Wednesday, there was the event called “burial of the bass” in the pub. All the villagers came to bury the bass, the masks were coming one by one: a priest, a death, a minister, weeping women and all of them were saying goodbye to the bass laid on the bier.
These days, the custom is not seen anymore, but there are places in Kysuce where this event is reviving. Vysoká nad Kysucou is one of such places.
Watch the video from Burial of bass in the facility Kysucká izba:
A 40-day fast is ahead of Christians from Ash Wednesday. It serves as time for purifying the body, soul, and the spirit. And above all, it is the preparation and anticipation of Easter.
Literature and photos from book: Kysuce
(author: Jaroslav Velička)
