Yangon residents told DVB that the regime set up a “Walking Thingyan” event, where pedestrians enter a path with overhead sprinklers, on Maha Bandoola Road on Tuesday. The annual Thingyan festival takes place April 13–16, prior to the Myanmar New Year on April 17.

An anti-coup protest group called the Anti-Junta Alliance Yangon called on every Myanmar citizen to spend the four-days mourning the over 4,000 killed by the March 28 earthquake instead of celebrating the coming new year.

It set up a blackboard in Kandawgyi Park on April 13. Inscribed was a verse from the song Thingyan Moe: “Yellow blossoms are crying while everyone is singing and playing.” 

The regime announced at the beginning of the month that this year’s Thingyan festival would be subdued and quietly disassembled the Thingyan pavilion in front of the Yangon City Hall on April 6.

The event on Tuesday featured no music or dancing, but water splashing events were held in Yangon’s North Okkalapa, Shwepaukkan, Tamwe and Mingalar Taungnyunt townships, according to residents.

In Mandalay, no official Thingyan festival was held out of respect for the 2,788 residents killed by the earthquake. An unfinished Thingyan pavilion, set up by the regime Mandalay City Development Committee, was repurposed as an earthquake emergency relief center. 

Myanmar’s Thingyan Festival was officially recognized as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) on Dec. 5. Regime media reported that there’s an effort to get thanaka, a traditional cosmetic paste, recognized by UNESCO. 

Regime leader Min Aung Hlaing, deputy leader Soe Win, and other officials, attended the opening ceremony of what it called a “peaceful” Thingyan event in Naypyidaw on April 13 despite 615 residents of the capital being killed during the earthquake.  

Residents of Bago Township told DVB that Thingyan festivities were cancelled in the region, as they were mourning the 80 residents who were killed during the earthquake.

Regime administrators told Bago residents that the 3,000 MMK ($0.6 USD) collected in donations from each family to build a Thingyan pavilion would instead go toward an earthquake relief fund.  

DVB has documented that the death toll from the March 28 earthquake is 4,346, with 7,890 people injured, and 210 missing. The regime updated its figures to 3,706, with 5,027 injured, and 130 missing.