Maha Muni Pagoda Festival (Mandalay)

The pagoda festival celebrates on 14th Waxing Moon day and 15th full Moon day of Tabodwe in Mandalay. The coldest month in Myanmar and during the festival, devotees light bonfires and cook huge pans of sticky rice with ginger, coconut and sesame to offer to monks at the Maha Muni pagoda. In other parts of the country, sticky rice is cooked as a celebration of the harvest and distributed within communities.

Shwe Settaw Pagoda Festival (Magwe Division)

The festival begins on 5th Waxing Moon day of Tabodwe in Shwe Settaw, Magwe Division, in central Myanmar. During 11 days festival, there are two pagodas which enshrine footprints of the Buddha, the site is on the banks of the Mann Creek, where bamboo cabins are erected every year for local revelers to enjoy cool swims during the heat of summer.

Kyaik Khaut Pagoda Festival (Thanlyin)

This festival starts 8th Waxing Moon day of Tabodwe in Thanlyin near Yangon. The nearest pagoda festival of this size closest to Yangon, just 30 minutes away by car. The duration is 10 days. A free traditional puppet show is always part of the festivities.

Htamanae Festival (Nation Wide)

This festival is to celebrate the harvest, communities and organizations cook giant pans of sticky rice with ginger, coconut, peanuts and lots of sesame, which is wrapped in banana leaves and given to neighbours and friends.