Taunggyi Tazaungdaing Festival
The most popular festival held in the Shan State is the Taunggyi Tazaungdaing, also known as the Festival of Lights, which usually happens around November. During the festival, you can see many hot air balloons of varying shapes and sizes that are launched to the sky as an offering to the heavens, and to fight off evil spirits. The festival is quite popular among the locals because it is similar to music festivals where there are loud music and lots of beer and food.
If you are travelling to Myanmar in November, make sure to witness this awesome event. Booking your hotel in advance is highly recommended, as the city runs out of accommodations very quickly due to the high number of travelers.
Thingyan Festival
The most famous festival in Myanmar, the Thingyan Water Festival is held in celebration of the Myanmar New Year. This festival is similar to the famous Songkran Festival in Thailand where people throw or splash water at one another during the four-day festival. The festival happens all across the Yangon region, but Mandalay has the bragging rights for being the most crowded city to celebrate the Myanmar New Year. Usually, the festival lasts four days but on a leap year, it lasts five days. On the Burmese New Year day, Myanmar people also do good deeds by offering meals and snacks, taking Sabbath, or cutting nails for their elders.
Kachin Manaw Festival
This famous festival in Myanmar is a joint festivity of the New Year, battle victories, the tribes’ reunion, and the tradition. Manaw poles are erected and men and women dance around it. This festival is one of the most delightful and popular festivals of Myanmar. If you visit Myanmar in January then do attend this festival.
Panguni Utram
This festival is celebrated in Sri Angala Eswari Munieswar Swamy Temple, Pleikha Village, Kyauk Tan Township in Yangon. It lasts for 10 days and is celebrated during the full moon day of Tabaung or Tagu (March or April). Religious in nature, this occasion attracts a lot of participants with fire walking. After walking on hot coals, the devotees tread in goat’s milk before rubbing their feet with turmeric powder.
Kason Festival
Kason festival is celebrated to announce the auspicious birth of Buddha. You can join in the processions followed by the locals and pour water on the sacred Bodhi tree or take river cruises around for watching the festivity and celebration. You can also pour scented water in the pagoda. This is one of the most exciting festivals of Myanmar.
Kyaukse Elephant Dance Festival
Kyaukse is located just about 44km away from Mandalay, and every year around October, people from upper Myanmar usually come to Kyaukse during the festival to enjoy the elephant dance. There are usually two people who enter inside the paper-elephant to dance. These dancers must completely be in sync when it comes to rhythm and timing for the dance to be successful. This festival is held to pay homage to the Shwe Tha Lyaung Pagoda in Kyaukse.
Ananda Pagoda Festival
The festival has been and will be one of the most widely celebrated ones of all the Myanmar festivals 2019. You can witness the Buddhist rituals and ceremonies of social gathering and also the pomp of Buddhism. It is also the best occasion to enjoy the local food at its best too. So, be a part of the festivals of Myanmar to know of their culture and relish the local cuisines.