THERE will be no Thingyan Festival in Yangon People’s Square this year, but the Satuditha, a traditional charity feast, will be held without music and dance.
The Information Committee of the State Administration Council has announced that the Myanmar New Year’s Ata Thingyan Festival, which will be held for the first time after being included in the UNESCO Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, will be organized peacefully and following Myanmar culture without music and dance.
According to the Yangon City Development Committee’s Engineering Department (Roads and Bridges), preparations for the water festival pavilion and the Thingyan Walk being built in front of Yangon City Hall have been suspended and cancelled.
Such cancellations are due to the strong Mandalay earthquake on 28 March, which left many people dead and injured, as well as damaged buildings.
Applications for the construction of water festival pavilions in Yangon Region were accepted from 25 March to 7 April, and seven companies have submitted applications. — Htun Htun/ZN
