Masqueraders from Szatmár will fill the streets of Panyola on the first weekend of February, on Saturday 7 February 2026. The residents of Panyola, together with visiting guests, will celebrate the traditions of Szatmár with the carnival bustle of the Szamoshát region.
If in Szatmár-Bereg you mention nothing more than Pulyaszedő (the child-snatcher), Cigányasszony (the Gypsy woman), the bear, the stork, the funeral scene and the carnival bustle, everyone thinks of Panyola. And rightly so, as old memories come flooding back for everyone, and the customs have been successfully revived, bringing the traditions of the region and the scenes of the spinning house to life.
Reviving all this was not difficult, since in 1965 a professional television crew recorded this old custom in Panyola, based on the collections of Professor Ujváry Zoltán. The village’s leader, Muhari Zoltán, who came to the area as a “blow-in”, embraced every tradition and, together with the young people, carried forward the carefully guarded memories of the Szamosparti Pensioners’ Club.
Together they dusted off the old dramatic plays and made them common property, so that they would once again become a living custom of the region. “We have now been chasing away winter with a traditional parade for 12 years. At first we revived it to entertain the village, but since then we have organised several conferences and exhibitions on the subject, finding relics and treasures hidden in attics that can make this Szamos-area folk custom even more authentic. The parade has already welcomed the busós, the bull-strikers of Nagykászon and carnival masqueraders and associations who cherish the value of the carnival season by representing a custom from Hungary or from beyond its borders,” said Muhari Zoltán, mayor of Panyola.
Masked locals and visitors from further afield walk together through the small five-street village, and at several stops they can enjoy folk dance performances, dramatic plays and delicious Szatmár flavours.
The traditional Panyola wedding folk scene and the asking for the bride’s hand, already presented with great success last year, promise a rollicking atmosphere again this year. Carnival-goers can gather to music at the Festival Square, where they can taste pig-slaughter dishes, carnival doughnuts and the indispensable Szatmár plum pálinka.
The Slovak village of Perbenyik, which became our twin settlement last year, is also joining the traditional carnival to get to know our Szatmár carnival traditions, said Muhari Zoltán, the village’s leader. The parade returns to the Festival Square, and the evening closes with a folk dance house and Heit Lóri and his band.
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Pótor Melinda
