| Karen New Year | ||||
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Nee Taw Thaw! The Karen New Year is one of the most important community-wide celebrations for the Karen. Their traditional calendar starts from the main migration of their ancestors to Burma in BC 739 and follows a lunar cycle such that the celebration falls in December or January each year. They have been excited to share the event with their American friends as well. |
Check out my video of KNY 2749 on youtube |
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| The start of the Karen year 2746 fell on December 19th, 2006. The Karen and other Burmese families of Atlanta gathered for an enjoyable community celebration which included presentations by the kids dressed in their traditional clothing. These Karen girls share some of the culture's dancing with the crowd. The celebration also included singing, expressions of national pride, and honoring of the elders of the community. The Karen new year 2747 fell in January 2008. This event focused less on the children and more on the large number of Karen young adults who had arrived throughout the previous summer. Here are some members of the Karen band that performed for the new year. Guitar playing is a valued and widely held talent among the younger Karen. The new year celebration included a performance by the Karen church youth choir as well as a recitation of Karen history. My first Karen New Year was a great chance to spend with our newly arrived families. It gave them the opportunity to reverse roles and act as cultural guides for me. They even gave me a wonderful Karen patterned shirt to wear. The dance led by the ladies in this picture took place to the beat of a traditional Karen drum seen here. Held prominent is the Karen national flag.. Karen New Year 2749 took place on December 19,2009 and was a much bigger event than past years that I attended. It included numerous traditional dances and music presentations including a performance of the bamboo dance seen here. | ||||
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