Updated list of the ultimate Myanmar festivals in November
Posted By : Threeland Travel / Festivals & Events Information
Myanmar has 135 ethnic groups, 135 different cultures and over 200 festivals each year to experience when you travel to the Golden Land. Below is the list of festivals that you should not miss as you plan your Myanmar tour. One thing to note is that most festivals happen according to the Burmese calendar, so the dates of the festivals may vary each year. We recommend checking the dates before you travel.
*Note: Tazaungmone, also known as Tazaungdaing, is the eighth month of Myanmar calendar.
KAUNG-HMU-DAW PAGODA FESTIVAL, SAGAING
Date: Around Full Moon Day of Tazaungmone
Location: Sagaing, Sagaing Region (20km to Mandalay)
Duration: 8 days
The Kaunghmudaw Pagoda Festival is a traditional Buddhist holiday held on the temple grounds. One particularly interesting aspect is the sight of the caravan of ox carts loaded with local goods such as handwoven cotton, rice mats, and cane mats as they temporarily occupy the pagoda grounds, under the shade of the trees. Portions of the profit from the festival market are donated to the Kaunghmudaw Pagoda for the maintenance of the temple.
What is the appropriate attire? - Visitors are required to wear clothing that covers shoulder, arms, and knees in keeping with traditions of modesty. Visitors are also required to remove their shoes before entering the area within the Buddhist compound.
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Myanmar Festival in November: Kaunghmudaw pagoda festival
BALLOON FESTIVAL, TAUNGGYI
Date: Before and until the Full moon Day of Tazaungmone
Location: Taunggyi (Southern Shan State)
Duration: 7 days
The Hot Air Balloon Festival is celebrated once a year on the second Festival of Lights after Buddhist Lent and lasts for five to seven days. It is an ancient tradition. Traditionally this balloon raising ceremony is to pay homage to Sulamuni Pagoda in heaven by sending up lighted hot air balloons. Also, the festival is to celebrate the end of the rainy season as the transition to the cooler and drier winter will follow. The paper balloons are between 4, 5 and 6m high, and are decorated on the outside with colorful lanterns made of cellophane. Lights are attached to the lanterns, giving the balloons a different pattern. The hot-air balloon rises quickly filling the sky with bright lights and colors.
Daytime activities include all-day weaving competitions and animal-shaped balloons called "Ayoke" being launched into the sky, but it's the night time festivities that are the most noteworthy. The festival grounds attract huge crowds, and the grounds are pretty massive... enough to hold tens of thousands of people. They host all sorts of fun activities besides the fire balloons, including a fairgrounds with rides like the human-powered Ferris Wheel, carnival games like "Rolling the Bicycle Tire", and more food options than you can possibly need. You can even get yourself a tattoo. There are firework too.
Myanmar Festival in November: Taunggyi Balloon festival
SHWEZIGON PAGODA FESTIVAL, BAGAN
Date: Before and until the Full moon Day of Tazaungmone
Location: Taunggyi (Nyaung Oo – north of the ancient city of Bagan)
Duration: 4 days
The Shwezigon Pagoda Festival marks the end of Myanmar’s monsoon season on the Bagan Plains. This Festival is one of the liveliest pagoda festivals in Central Myanmar, a mix between Buddhist ceremony, fair and country marketplace. Both locals and foreign visitors enjoy walking around the food-stalls, exploring shops selling local products, and buying Myanmar traditional lacquerware and handicrafts.
The entertainment includes Zats: A colorful round dance with singing, short and long theatre performances; Anyeints: open-air performances lasting several hours, during which comedians caricature current events. Traditional dances and popular films are shown in between. On the full moon day (22 November), there is a communal offering of food to the monks. Up to 600 monks arrive here from the surrounding monasteries.
Myanmar Festival in November: Swezigon pagoda festival
TAZAUGDINE FESTIVAL OF LIGHT (THROUGHOUT MYANMAR)
Date: Full moon day of Tazaugmone
Location: All over Myanmar
Duration: 2 days
All houses are lighted up to pay homage to Lord Buddha who comes down to the abode of humans after sending Buddhist Lent in Heaven. Holy robes are woven during the night of full moon day eve to offer to the Buddha images before dawn and many weaving competitions are held at major pagodas. At the Koehtatkyi Pagoda in Yangon, 9,999 candles are lit to mark this auspicious occasion.
Myanmar Festival in November: Tazaugdine festival of light
HOLLY ROBE WEAVING CONTEST (THROUGHOUT MYANMAR)
Date: A day before full moon day of Tazaugmone
Location: All over Myanmar
Duration: 1 days
The rope weaving contest is held on the evening before the full moon. In this competition, teams of women enthusiastically compete from dusk till midnight for the title of most skilled weaving team of the saffron-colored ‘Ma Thoe ThinGann’ robes. The weaving is performed in traditional style. The skill and handicraft of the various teams is a feast for the eyes. The finished robes are presented to the Buddha images around the pagodas at the daybreak of the full moon day. The prize is then awarded for the most beautiful robe.
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Myanmar Festival in November: Holly robe weaving contest
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