Thingyan Water Festival in Yangon: Myanmar’s Wettest New Year

Well, we had already booked our flights and hotels when we realised we would be in Yangon during Thingyan, the Burmese New Year water festival. Most shops, markets, restaurants and spas would be closed, and even the overnight buses from Yangon to Bagan were suspended that week. So our plans to see some of the classic sights in Yangon had to change!

But Thingyan is the one week when the whole city seems to spill onto the streets. Strangers, kids and grandparents all join the same giant, joyful water fight before the quiet, merit-making start of the New Year. It turned out to be a unique time to be in Myanmar’s biggest city.

This post is our soaking-wet day in Yangon, plus a full guide to the Thingyan water festival: what it means, how the days unfold, the food and traditions, etiquette, where to celebrate, what to pack and how the festival has changed in recent years.

Before you go: Myanmar today

Myanmar has changed a lot since our visit, and I want to be upfront about it before you read on.

• Political situation: the military took power in a coup in February 2021, and armed conflict and unrest have continued in many parts of the country since then.
• How Thingyan changed: after the coup, many people chose not to join the official, authority-organised celebrations. In several years the streets were far quieter than usual, and some people marked the New Year privately with merit-making instead.
• The 2025 earthquake: a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck near Sagaing and Mandalay on 28 March 2025, a few weeks before Thingyan. Celebrations that year were scaled back and focused more on traditional and religious observance.
• Travel advice: several governments currently advise against travel to all or large parts of Myanmar. Advice changes, so check the latest from your own government (for example GOV.UK, Smartraveller or travel.state.gov). Also confirm that your travel insurance covers you.
• Festival safety: official advisories warn that road accidents, drunk driving and petty crime increase during Thingyan, and that many services close.

The way Thingyan is celebrated can vary a lot from year to year. Please treat the rest of this post as our experience and a cultural guide, not a promise of what you will find.

What is Thingyan? The water festival in Myanmar

Thingyan is the Burmese New Year festival. It usually runs for four or five days around 13 to 16 April, with the New Year falling on about 17 April. The exact dates follow the traditional Burmese calendar, so they can shift by a day.

Its roots are Buddhist and Hindu. According to legend, Thagyamin (the Burmese form of the deity Sakra, or Indra) comes down from his heavenly realm to visit the human world for the festival and returns on New Year’s Day. Water stands for washing away the bad luck and wrongdoing of the old year, so you start the new one clean.

Traditionally, people gently sprinkled water on each other with a sprig of leaves dipped in a silver bowl. Thingyan falls in the hottest part of the year, and over time the gentle sprinkle turned into a full-on splashing fiesta. It happens basically everywhere to everyone: at street stages, outside hotels, from moving pickup trucks full of festive spirit… Stranger, friend or passing car, you are the target.

Water festivals around the region

Myanmar’s Thingyan is one of several New Year water festivals in South and Southeast Asia that share the same April timing:

• Thailand: Songkran, now one of the region’s biggest street parties (I love Thailand’s cities; see my Bangkok guide and Chiang Mai guide).
• Laos: Pi Mai (Boun Pi Mai), especially lively in Luang Prabang.
• Cambodia: Choul Chnam Thmey, the Khmer New Year, celebrated around the temples of Angkor and across the country.
• China: the Water-Splashing Festival of the Dai people in Xishuangbanna, Yunnan.
• Sri Lanka: the Sinhala and Tamil New Year, celebrated around the same time but without the water fights.

How Thingyan is celebrated

The days of Thingyan

• A-kyo (eve): preparations, cleaning homes and the first offerings at monasteries.
• A-kya (Thagyamin descends): the water throwing officially begins.
• A-kyat (the days in between): one or two days of full water-festival celebration.
• A-tet (Thagyamin returns): the last and often wildest day of splashing.
• New Year’s Day: the water stops, and the day turns quiet and devotional.

Pandals and water stages

The heart of the street party is the pandal (mandat): a decorated stage, often sponsored by a company, neighbourhood or the city, with hoses aimed at the passing traffic below. Pickup trucks loaded with revellers drive from pandal to pandal to get soaked.

A-nyeint, music and Thingyan songs

Expect loud music everywhere. Thingyan is also associated with a-nyeint, a traditional Burmese variety performance mixing dance, music and comedy, and with thangyat, rhythmic chants that playfully poke fun at social life.

Mont lone yay paw and Thingyan food

The signature Thingyan treat is mont lone yay paw: glutinous rice balls stuffed with jaggery (palm sugar) and boiled until they float, then rolled in coconut. They are often handed out for free at roadside stalls, and the occasional ball hides a chilli as a prank! You will also find free food stalls (satuditha) serving noodles and snacks as a way of making merit.

Merit-making on New Year’s Day

On New Year’s Day, many people visit pagodas and monasteries, offer food to monks, wash Buddha images, wash the hair of elders as a sign of respect, and release fish or birds as an act of kindness. Expect temples such as Shwedagon to be busy with worshippers.

Our Thingyan day in Yangon

Getting “blessed” outside the hotel

Since “No One is Safe” (what are you talking about? Those were blessings!), waterproofing is key when you are wandering any street in the city. We got splashed (or should I say, “blessed”) by a bunch of kids 15 seconds after we walked out of our hotel heading to the city centre. I also saw taxi drivers covering the inside of their cars with plastic. Too bad I didn’t bring a squirt gun with me for the party. 😛

We got around on foot and by taxi. Our hotel was a mere 5-minute walk from the giant Shwedagon Pagoda, which we went inside to see during our stay, and about a 15-minute drive from the old town, where most of the celebration took place.

Bogyoke Aung San Market: really, nothing opens!

Although I have said it once, I’ll say it again: almost all shops are closed during Thingyan! When we reached our first stop, the Bogyoke Aung San Market, it was closed and we could only take some photos outside. We had read online that some shops might stay open, and we wanted to try our luck. As it turned out, the entire market was closed that day and we couldn’t even go in.

Afterwards, we walked along Bogyoke Aung San Road to the nearby railway station. The road was quiet, with a few hawkers still in business between 27th and 36th Streets. However, party-goers might splash water from pickup trucks on the road, so stay alert!

Yangon Central Railway Station

Yangon Central Railway Station first opened in 1877. The original was destroyed during the Second World War, and the present building, with its tiered, traditional Burmese-style roofs, dates from 1954.

The station is the starting point of the Yangon Circular Railway, a local loop of about 46 kilometres that takes roughly three hours around the city and its outskirts. We only visited the station this time, but if you have a free morning, riding the loop is a popular way to see everyday life pass by the window: villages, markets and vendors hopping on and off. Like many older train systems, it is slow and not always punctual, so treat it as a sightseeing ride rather than transport.

Sule Pagoda, 999 Shan Noodle Shop and a water fight at Maha Bandula Park

We headed to the Sule Pagoda next and had a little lunch at the 999 Shan Noodle Shop. As I said, not many places open during the festival, but we were lucky enough to book afternoon tea at the Strand Hotel for later.

Sule Pagoda is a good starting point to explore Yangon’s old town, as it sits at the intersection of Maha Bandula Road and Sule Pagoda Road. Many colonial-era buildings line these roads all the way down to Strand Road on the riverside.

Maha Bandula Park had turned into a busy place with events and celebration parties. Loud music, bustling locals and street vendors filled the park, with the Independence Monument, Yangon City Hall and the Yangon Region Court in the background. The garden pool had become the ultimate water fight arena, and I could feel icy water running down my back as we walked through the park.

Colonial Yangon and the Lokanat Gallery

We saw quite a few beautiful colonial buildings on our way to the Strand Hotel, like the Accountant General’s office, the General Post Office and the Lokanat Gallery. I have to mention the Lokanat Gallery because I love art. It is one of Yangon’s oldest art galleries, upstairs in the colonial Sofaer’s Building, and it shows works by contemporary Burmese artists.

Time to unwind at the Strand Hotel

After an afternoon of water fights, we were soaking wet. Luckily, the water did cool us down in the immense heat. The Strand Hotel opened in 1901 on Strand Road, facing the Yangon River, and was run by the Armenian Sarkies brothers, the hoteliers behind Raffles in Singapore. We headed to the hotel’s café after changing into dry clothes, and it was time to relax a little.

We had the Myanmar High Tea, which serves Southeast Asian delicacies such as sticky rice balls, sago and coconut milk pudding, and deep-fried banana with ice cream. The tea leaf salad (laphet) was definitely my favourite, and I ate it basically the entire trip in Myanmar! If you prefer something Western, the hotel also offers a classic high tea with savouries and pastries.

Sunset at Botahtaung Pagoda

We strolled along the riverside all the way to Botahtaung Pagoda and enjoyed the sunset over the Yangon River at the Botahtaung jetty.

It was a nice way to end our day of Thingyan celebrations!

More of Yangon: Kandawgyi Lake and Chaukhtatgyi

During our stay we also visited Kandawgyi Lake, a large lake park east of Shwedagon. The golden, barge-shaped Karaweik Hall floats on its eastern shore and is one of Yangon’s most photographed landmarks.

We also went to see the reclining Buddha at Chaukhtatgyi Buddha Temple. The image is about 66 metres long and famous for its serene face, glass eyes, and the auspicious symbols painted on the soles of its feet.

Where to celebrate Thingyan in Yangon

We spent our Thingyan day downtown, but if you want options, these are the places most associated with the festival in Yangon:

• Downtown and Maha Bandula Park: street parties, pandals and colonial backdrops, all within walking distance of Sule Pagoda.
• Kandawgyi Lake: historically one of the city’s main pandal areas, with big stages along the lake roads.
• Inya Lake Road: traditionally lined with large pandals and pickup-truck traffic; one of the busiest party routes.
• Pagodas on New Year’s Day: Shwedagon, Sule and Botahtaung for the quieter, devotional side of the festival.

Pandal locations and the scale of celebrations vary from year to year, so ask your hotel which areas are active.

Thingyan etiquette

• It’s a celebration and a blessing, so don’t get mad if you get wet. Embrace the spirit; it’s a great way to cool down in the heat!
• Don’t splash monks, nuns, elderly people, pregnant women or anyone carrying a baby, and respect anyone who signals they’d rather stay dry.
• Use clean water. Ice water and dirty water are poor form.
• Avoid splashing drivers and motorbike riders in a way that could cause an accident.
• Cover your shoulders and knees at temples and take off your shoes and socks before entering. Read my Bagan etiquette guide for more temple dos and don’ts.

What to pack and practical tips for Thingyan

• 

  Stock up beforehand: shops, markets and many restaurants are closed, so make sure you have everything you need, as it may not be easy to buy things during the festival.

• Waterproof everything: wallet, watch, camera and, most importantly, your phone. Water fights are everywhere and can get wild.
• Dress for the beach: quick-dry shirts and trousers, sandals or flip-flops, and a waterproof backpack.
• Bring a change of clothes for temples: you can’t enter in hot pants, camisoles or vests. A longyi, the wrap-around sarong worn across Myanmar (the paso for men, the htamein for women), is a handy cover-up.
• Watch out for pickup trucks: the most unexpected “attacks” come from them. Don’t assume you’re safe on an empty road and take out your phone without protection.
• Plan transport around the holiday: long-distance services can be reduced. In our case the overnight buses to Bagan weren’t running, so we flew to Bagan after Thingyan instead (here are the best pagodas to visit in Bagan).
• Stay safe after dark: drink driving rises during the festival, so take extra care on the roads.

Thingyan FAQ

When is Thingyan?

Usually around 13 to 16 April, with Burmese New Year’s Day on about 17 April. The dates follow the Burmese calendar, so check the official holiday dates for the year you travel.

Is Thingyan the same as Songkran?

They are closely related New Year water festivals held at the same time of year. Songkran is Thailand’s version; Thingyan is Myanmar’s, with its own legend, songs and food.

Can tourists join the Thingyan water festival?

Yes. Visitors are welcomed into the splashing, and you’ll get wet whether you plan to or not. Just follow the etiquette above.

Is everything closed during Thingyan?

Most shops, markets, offices and many restaurants close, and transport can be reduced. Hotels and some restaurants usually stay open, but book ahead.

Is it safe to visit Myanmar for Thingyan?

Check your government’s current travel advisory first; several advise against travel to all or parts of Myanmar. During the festival itself, road accidents and petty crime rise.

More Myanmar and Southeast Asia stories

• Best 8 Special Things to Experience in Myanmar
• The Best 9 Pagodas You Must Visit in Bagan
• Etiquette and Traditions That Are Important in Old Bagan
• 3 of the Most Important Buddhist Heritage Sites in Southeast Asia