[1] The Karen New Year falls on the first day of Pyatho, the tenth month in the Burmese calendar,[2] and typically falls in December or January.
The timing coincides with the completion of the Southeast Asian rice harvest in the lead-up to Pyatho.
[3] Celebrations typically include don dances and bamboo dances, singing, speeches, and the consumption of food and alcohol.
[4] The day is a gazetted public holiday in Myanmar.
[7][8] In 2017, the two Karen major liberation groups, leaders from the Karen National Liberation Army and the Karen National Union, jointly celebrated the Karen New Year for the first time since 1967 in Kayin State's Hlaingbwe Township.