Thingyan — Burmese New Year (water festival)
New Year and Water Festival · Yangon, Myanmar
The festival
Thingyan is Myanmar's largest festival: four to five days during which the whole country strove copiously to wash away the faults and mishaps of the past year and enter purified into the new year. Hérity of the traditions of the New Year of Southeast Asia related to the passage of the sun into Aries — the word Thingyan derives from the Sanskrit "change" — the festival is attested from the time of the Kingdom of Bagan.
In Yangon and Mandalay, giant stage (pandal) water the crowd with the water jet to the sound of music, decorated trucks parade, and one can enjoy mountain lion yay paw, the glued rice pellets served for the occasion. The preceding days are also a time of merit: visits to pagodas, offerings and release of animals. The New Year proper falls the day after the last day of watering (April 17, 2027).
The situation in Myanmar requires that the current travel notice be checked before any travel is made.
Good to know
Dates now fixed in mid-April: Water Festival holidays from 13 to 16 April 2027, Burmese New Year on 17 April 2027 (official calendars of holidays). Myanmar: sensitive destination, notice to travellers to check.