Yesterday, Burmese Americans and their friends celebrated the 7th Annual Myanmar (Burmese) Water Festival at the Sara D. Roosevelt Park on Chrysties Street (between Broome & Delancey Streets) near Chinatown. The Myanmar Chinese Association of New York sponsored this event which also featured cultural performances and martial arts exhibition. Traditionally, the Burmese Water Festival welcomes the arrival of the Burmese New Year. One of the water festival’s key celebrations is the act of water play where children and adults joyously pour our douse water on each other to cleanse away the previous year’s sins and tribulations and to give blessing and thanks for the coming year. There were lots of kids running around with water guns at the festival. What a great celebration and a practical way for kids to cool off on a warm Sunday afternoon.
