Jaloon Htaw : The Mudon Township Peace and Development Council (TPDC) has announced that all villages in the township are prohibited from holding festivals before the Burmese elections this November.
According to a source close to the Village Peace and Development Council (VPDC) in the Mudon Township village of Nyoung Gone, all village pagoda festivals held during this Thadingyut, the seventh month of the Buddhist year which stretches from October 9th until November 6th, will be banned. Similar decrees have been reported in several other townships within Mon State, including Thanphyuzayart Township and Kyaikmayaw Township.
“No festival will get permission [to be held] before the election. Not only in this township, but in the whole country [the TPDC] will not give permission. They said we should only be concerned with the elections,” IMNA’s source in Nyoung Gone reported.
A member of Kamawet village in Mudon Township gave the opinion that festivals and other large gathering have been prohibited because Burmese government authorities are concerned that anti-government rioting or bomb blasting might occur.
Thadingyut is a time of intense celebration in Mon State. Besides any localized festivals that might celebrate individual villages’ founding days or holidays, the majority of villages in Mon State also celebrate 4 religious festivals held respectively on the eighth day of the waxing moon, full moon day, the eighth day of of the waning moon, and new moon day. Each festival in each village is typically celebrated with Mon music shows and Mon dance performances.
Kyaikhamee (Kyaikhami) village pagoda festival in Thanphyuzayart Townships, Kyaikamote pagoda festival and Nyaung Gone pagoda festival in Mudon Township, and Dhamatha pagoda festival in Kyaikmayaw Township are famous annual village festivals in Mon State, well known for their music shows and Mon performances.
On the second week of October 2010 is the 100th anniversary of Nyoung Gone village’s founding; according to another villager with connections to the local VPDC, the village had planned to hire famous Mon performers for the village’s annual founding-day festival, but the Mudon TPDC sent a letter to the Nyoung Gone VPDC forbidding the event.
“The VPDC asked permission to the TPDC in August, but they didn’t give [permission] and said to do only election work [focus on the election]. It was sad [to not get permission] on the village’s 100th anniversary because [our village’s] festival was held every year” said the villager.
A well-know Mon singer, known as Raman, told IMNA that the government’s festival prohibition for this year could seriously impact the Mon entertainment industry, as a large amount of Mon performers’ annual incomes depend on group bookings during Thadingyut. He reported that Non Aie Lawi, a Mon performance group, is hired only about 100 night a year. Around 10 Mon performance groups exist in Mon State; the actors in these performances typically make 100,000 kyat at night. Performances are booked well in advance of festival dates, creating a major problem for these groups when festival dates are cancelled.
“The group producer hires performers by year, and the producers could lose their investments because they [the government] prohibited performing at the famous festivals this year. It was no problem for Mon music band. The performers only have [the problems because they are booked ahead], ” said Raman.
Regarding the Nyoung Gone festival, at total of three performances have been held at each annual festival since the village was founded a century ago, he added.
According to Mon State villagers, a quiet community celebration, without a performance or music show, technically does not qualify as a festival and is still allowed. Such a development will be a letdown to many, as village festivals typically draw a large out-of-town audience. Migrant workers employed in neighboring Thailand frequently return to their native communities during village festival times; guests from other townships use the festivals as a reason to travel, and can be seen praying at local pagodas and exploring villages’ night markets.
“It will not be crowded without a festival” a Mudon resident remarked glumly.
