Festivals

22 Days of offerings paint the month of January with a sense of religious stoicism in Bagan. Monks wait in long lines as their alm bowls are filled with crops. Bullock cart-bearing pilgrims travel to the festival to peddle their goods, while market stalls and restaurants offer up delicious cuisine on the fairgrounds.

The hill tribes of Kachin State celebrate the Manaw festival every January. Also known as the Kachin New Year, the festival celebrates battle victories and tribe reunions of the past year. Spiritual dances create a colorful display as everyone in town joins in the fun in the little town of Kachin.

Occupying the northwest corner of Myanmar, the Naga people are a small culture living in the hilly country. A traditional Naga New Year Festival is a rare cultural treat, where gifts are exchanged, and traditional music and dance are performed for local and international entertainment.

An elaborate pagoda serves as the pinnacle of the largest Pagoda festival in a small town on the border of Shan and Kaya in Myanmar. Four days are filled with sprawling markets selling everything from candles, grilled whole pigs and illegal motorbikes. Visitors also enjoy cultural dance performances.

Visitors and locals sink their teeth into different sticky rice delicacies with various toppings at the Maha Muni Pagoda Festival in Mandalay. Lasting two days, the festival celebrates the revered Maha Muni Buddha Image covered in thick gold. Bonfires decorate the festival grounds during the cold month of February.