Arakanese in USA to Hold Traditional Water Festival

New York: Arakanese living in the USA will celebrate the 17th annual Arakanese Thingyan or New Year water festival in New York, according to the Thingyan Association, the organizer of the festival.

The festival will be held from 11am to 4pm local time on 17 July, at 100 West 84th Street, PS9 Playground between Columbus Avenue and Amsterdam Avenue, in Manhattan, New York.

Ko Kyaw Tha Hla, the managing director for organizing the festival, said the festival is held to show the Arakanese traditional culture to people internationally as well as to the different ethnic peoples from Burma living in USA.

"This is the most enjoyable Arakanese traditional festival and we celebrate it especially to make known our culture to the peoples here in USA. There are also people of Burmese origin who were born or brought up here and do not know about our lovely Arakanese traditional culture and I hope our celebration will not only enlighten to the people about our culture, but will give a chance to them to have a great fun in our festival", said Ko Kyaw Tha Hla.

The new year festival or Thingyan is traditionally held during the month "Tankhu" that starts a new year on the Arakanese lunar calendar and usually coincides with mid-April in the Roman calendar. Playing water among the adults and children is the joyous feature in the festival, which is for quenching the summer heat and for getting rid of troubles in the bygone year in tropical Arakan State in Burma. It is also distinguished for using traditional race-boats filled with water with the waiting young women holding bowls under a pavilion for pouring water with their interested young men and the water of love at the pavilion may lead most of the young peoples to their conjugal knots.

The organizing Thingyan Association said that because April is too cold to celebrate the festival, particularly with playing water, it has to be planned to celebrate in mid-July with the coming of summer in New York.

It said apart from the playing water, the festival will be celebrated with traditional singing and dancing, exhibition of arts and crafts, selling of traditional foods, and children games.

"Wet or dry, come to experience colorful multi-ethnic culture and heritage of Burma", invited the organizer. The detailed plans of the festival also can be read at http://www.thingyan.org.