Festivals & Events

Boat Procession at Inle Festival

The traditional Myanmar year is based on a 12-month lunar calendar. Traditional festival and Buddhist holidays revolve around this lunar year. “It is the nature of the people in Myanmar to make festivals” – an assertion amply borne out by the Myanmar’s addition of festivals and theatre.

Leg Rowers Inle Festival

Buddha images of the Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda

Inle Phaung-Daw-Oo Pagoda Festival usually takes place in the months of September and October. The Buddha images of the Phaung Daw Oo Pagoda on Inle Lake are carried by a golden barge to villages around Inle Lake during the 20 days of the festival. The arrival of the Buddha images is greeted with ceremonies and there is much rejoicing while the images are at the villages. All communities around the lake and villages in the surrounding mountains carry fruit and flowers on lacquer trays in their own boats and pay homage as the holy barges passes. Teams of the lake’s famous leg-rowers complete in annual boat races.

Hot Air Balloon Taunggyi balloon Festival

Taunggyi Hot Air Balloon Festival is a hot air balloon festival. This usually takes place on the full moon of the month of November for five days. There are both day and night Balloons and processions through the town.

Kachin Dancers at Manaw Festival in Myitkyina

PaO Procession at Kakku

Kachin Manaw Festival: Manaw simply means “festivals” in Kachin (Jinghpaw) language, and is a gathering to celebrate the harvest, New Year, or a wedding with feasting and dancing.

Kakku Pa-O Festival: On the final day of the Taunggyi balloon festival, there is a Pao Festival in Kakku pagoda Complex.

Initiation Ceremony to the Monkhood

Initiation Ceremony to the Monkhood

Initiation ceremony to the monkhood (Shin-pyu), the most important moment in the life of a young Myanmar boy is that of his initiation as a novice in the order of monks. Traditionally, the ceremony is a time of extravagance and an occasion of feasting. An auspicious day is chosen by the astrologer. Once the ceremony has been arranged, the announcement is made to the whole villages or neighborhood. On the appointed day, the boy is dressed in princely garment of silk, wear a gold headdress and has a horse and leads a procession around the village. Then, head shaving, prostrating himself from the head monk and asking for admittance to the monastery are followed. Once acceptance, he will become a monk and will stay in a monastery from a week to several months depending on how pious his family. These types of ceremony are commonly seen in countryside as well as in towns in the dry seasons.

5-daymarket in village near Inle Lake

5-daymarket in village near Inle Lake

5-day-market in Inle Lake Area rotates around the villages and towns of Shan state around Inle Lake, where tribal people in their costume come from the nearby villages to sell their indigenous agricultural products. It is worth planning to coincide with a market day in one of villages or towns while you are in this region.