Farsang (pronounced “farshang”) is the Hungarian equivalent of the Carnival season, with some specific alterations. Farsang covers the entire period between the twelfth day of Christmas and Shrove Tuesday, and it is a time for merrymaking and courtship.
Christmas is approaching quickly. If you are in Hungary and invited to a Christmas party, you will most probably come across one or more of our staple Christmas pastries. Can you match each to our cover image? Make sure to try them if you get the chance.
Family names reflect that a certain set of people belongs together. In Hungary, children traditionally wear their fathers’ family name, while women also often change their name upon getting married. Knowledge about how this works may come in handy not only when preparing for your life in Hungary, but also when researching family documents for your citizenship application.
Every ten years, there is a census in Hungary so both the government and we as a society can get a better overview of who lives here. There is a census happening right now until the end of November, and it is supposed to be the last traditional census in Hungary.
Since Hungary is traditionally well-known for its excellent wines, it might not come as a surprise that the grape harvest is the biggest event of the fall in agriculture. Depending on when the grape ripens in each region, you can expect festivals connected to the grape harvest all over the country from the end of September to the end of October.
Just like Hungarian language, Hungarian names are different from what you have in the rest of Europe. This goes for word order, naming conventions, and name structure too. Read on to get a quick overview of naming conventions in Hungary.