Karen New Year..... .... December - January

The Karen New Year is not marked by a day but rather by a period whoes begining varies from year to year. The Karen Calendar has 13 months in it and the New Year coincides with the event of Pyathoe when the year's harvest of rice is celebrated by comsuming the collected crop. People mark the occasion by sounding the Karen horns and drums. History of the Karen New Year.

Karen Revolutionary ................January 31

Day

For years, the KNU leaders asked for a Karen state peacefully, but their wishes were not fulfilled. On March 1948, the Karen leaders and the government leaders met twice and had discussions about the granting of a Karen state. Soon after these meetings, the Burmese leaders started recruiting its own army amongst prisoners, thieves and robbers. This army then started to commit atrocities against the Karens in the form of looting and burning of Karen properties and the persecution of the Karens. This army started to attack the KNU headquarter at Sanchaung(Rangoon) and then the KNDO headquarter at Thamaing(Insein) on 1949 January 31. So on that day the KNU and the KNDO declared war on the Burmese army. So the Karen revolution broke out on 1949 January 31 and it is marked and commemorated annually on that day.

Karen National Day..............February 11

During the British rule in Burma, the Karens requested and demanded a free Karen state from the British government. But the request was ignored. After Burma was granted independence, the Karen leaders again requested the Burmese government to grant the Karens an independent State. The Burmese Government also refused to grant the Karens a state because according to them, not all the Karen people wanted a free state. To show that the Karen people wanted a free state, the KNU led a demonstration in 1948, February 11. Over 450 thousand Karen people showed up and demonstrated all over Burma peacefully. But the demand for a state was not granted. So, based on the day of the demonstration, Karen National Day is celebrated annually on 11 Feb.

Martyrs Day...............................August 12

On August 12, 1950 the founder of KNU, Ba U Gyi and several other Karen leaders were ambushed and killed by Burmese troops in Kawkareik District, at To kawt Ku village. Karen people mark this day, August 12, as a special day to remember and thank Saw Ba U Gyi and all other fallen heroes who sacrificed their lives for the struggle of the Karen people.