Myanmar’s most dazzling and dangerous festival (PHOTOS)
Onlookers celebrate as fireworks attached to a balloon explode on the ground beneath it.
TAUNGGYI, Myanmar — The Tazaungdaing Lighting Festival is such a spectacular event that it’s hard to believe it’s virtually unheard of outside Myanmar.
The festival occurs in a remote northern corner of this country, drawing thousands of revelers to the mountainous, insurgency-ridden Shan State.
To the initiated, it’s one of the most beautiful festivals in all of Southeast Asia — a region that knows how to celebrate.
But if you decide to go, be forewarned that the risks are significant.
To celebrate the long-anticipated end of the rainy season, hundreds of hot-air balloons are unleashed. Many contain fireworks.
The danger arises from a potent cocktail: The balloons are filled with explosives — gas — that aren’t intended to explode, and laced with explosives that are. Balloons have been known to collapse in fireballs on the festival ground, engulfing unsuspecting patrons.
Unfortunately, the November 2014 celebration, from which these photos were taken, was no different. Four people lost their lives, and 12 others were injured.
Aside from these massive ornamental balloons, there are also elements of the Lighting Festival that make it one of the most peculiar events in the region — such as a man-powered Ferris wheel, curious carnival games and cruel animal shows.