“[The festival] will be held for ethnic unity. The Karen [Phyu] people living in this area are out of touch with traditional culture so [the festival] is them to interact with their literature and culture,” Saw Shar Phaung Awa, the festival organizing committee’s secretary and an Amyotha Hluttaw MP from Kya-in Seikkyi township told KIC News.

Saw Shar Phaung Awa added that the Karen New Year Day celebration could also serve to benefit other ethnic groups as a model for celebrating ethnic heritage.

Among the events planned are a Karen flag raising, a traditional rice spirit summoning ceremony, a Tagondaing ceremony, and tradition Kyin don dance performances. A Karen magazine will also be distributed to attendees, organizing committee members said. 

“A Karen is [always] a Karen," said Saw Soe Naing, an ethnic Kayin from Pyinmana township in Nay Pyi Taw. “We have been living in the Nay Pyi Taw Council area for a long time now, and we are out of touch with our literature and culture. I’m happy that the Hluttaw MPs are holding the New Year’s Day ceremony. I want them to organize traditional Don dance and literature [events],” he added.

Karen MPs celebrated the Karen New Year in Nay Pyi Taw last year as well, earning the attendance of State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.

Karen New Year was recognized as a public holiday by the British colonial administration in 1937. It is marked on the first day of the month of Pyatho, the 10th month in the Myanmar calendar.