Farsang

Farsang is a centuries-old tradition preserved to this day. Carnival traditions can be traced back several centuries when during the evening people who gathered together to make thread would dance, sing and play. 

Farsang ends on Mardi Gras, and the last evening sitting gained the size of a small wedding when the participants prepare cakes and cabbage rolls, and drank. The atmosphere gets hotter, with music and dance until the morning. After that, the whole community holds a party to bury the Farsang, by which they say goodbye to the cheerful weeks.

"Burying the Farsang" is one of the most spectacular celebrations in Harghita County, and on this occasion, the village sons who live somewhere else return home. The central element of the feast is the puppet, a straw doll realistically dressed and decorated, from socks to hat, which is usually called Illyés or Döme. The doll symbolizes the Farsang, and the entire community, disguised in a funeral procession, "laments" its demise.

At the end, Illyés is undressed and its straws set on fire, around which the participants sing and dance. The procession then passes once more through the village, calling the inhabitants to the Farsang Ball.

Text, image and video sources: 
https://www.alsosofalva.eu/2012/02/dragi-vizitatori.html 
https://www.szekelyszallas.hu/tartalomszolgaltatas/erdely-hagyomany-nepszokas 
http://www.maszol.ro/index.php/kultura/92098-farsangolas-hargita-megyeben-ajanlo