Bárth János (szerk.): Bács-Bodrogtól Bács-Kiskunig (Baja-Kecskemét, 2003)

Solymos Ede: Refena, az asszonybál

JÁVOR Kata

é. n. Asszonyfarsang Mátraalmáson

In: Népi Kultúra-Népi Társadalom. II—III. 265-294.

KOVÁCS Antal

1903 „Farsang utója” Baján Ethn. XIV. 1-12.

RAPCSÁNYI Jakab

1934 Baja Magyar Városok Monográfiái Budapest

SÓLYMOS Ede - SOLYMOSNÉ 1980 Bajai farsang, refena

Türr István Múzeum Adattára 201-80.

1957 Farsangi maszkajárás Baján Ethn. 68.é.2.sz. 354-356,

1992 „Farsang utója” Baján 90 évvel ezelőtt Bajai Honpolgár március 6-8.

UJVÁRY Zoltán

1977 Asszonyfarsang

In: Magyar Néprajzi Lexikon I. 150.

Ede Sólymos

Refena, the Women’s Amusement- Summary The author would like to start by saying that his presentation is not a scheduled collection but an issue of several telling heard accidentally.

In the 18lh—19th century Baja was one of the busy ports of corn trading, a lively trade and industrial town. Apart from the Hungarians its inhabitants were German and Slavic people (Bunyevac people properly called Catholic Serbians, and Serbians).

Catholic Serbians lived in the South part of the city, they lived mainly on agriculture, transport and shipping.

The East part of the city - called Bajaszentistván - was an independent community up to 1936 also with three ethnic minorities. Here the poor ones besides the day-rate lived on forest works and brickworks.

The Catholic Serbian women from Bajaszentistván regularly organised women’s amusements called refena at carnival time. They usually took refenas at houses but between the two wars they arranged them in pubs where apart from the musicians not a single male person was allowed to be present. When somebody did try to go in he got striped by the women and pushed out to the street immediately. They were singing, dancing, eating and drinking until morning. Mourning for a dead was in practise as well. After the World War II Catholic Serbian people from the lower-town began to organise refena, but from the 1950’s the Women’s Council took over the organisation. When the traditional peasant way of life came to end this carnival entertainment changed as well. Women made parties not only with the Hungarians and the Germans but they allowed man to be in.

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