12th –16th April Around the middle of April, the three day Thingyan (Water Festival) starts Burmese New Year. Thingyan, from the Sanskrit samkranta (fully passed over), celebrates the passage of the sun from the sign of Pisces into the sign of Aries in the zodiac. This is the height of the dry and hot season and, as in Thailand’s Songkran, it is celebrated in a most raucous manner – by throwing buckets of cold water at anyone who dares to venture into the streets. Foreigners are not exempt.day.