Tauzaungmon, the 8th month of the Burmese calendar, is a time of festivals. Tauzaungmon is the first month of the cold season (corresponding approximately to November), which means that the rainy season is definitively over. The pleasant weather makes it ideal to organize celebrations.
A pre-Buddhist festival, Net Khat Thabin, was formerly held on the full moon day of Tauzaungmon. But when Buddhism reached Burma, all celebrations assumed a Buddhist character. However, reminiscences of Net Khat Thabin can still be seen thru the lighting of oil lamps and numerous entertainment forms in the streets.
Instead of Net Khat Thabin, it's now the Kahtein festival which is celebrated throughout the country. The word "Kahtein" is derived from the Pali word "Kathina" which means "firm and durable" in English. During this festival, monks are offered robes for the coming year, and by extension monasteries are supplied with all kind of things they will need in the next 12 months (cooking utensils, towels, shoes, money, etc…)
In Taunggyi, a procession was organized and donors competed to invent the most original and funny carts possible to carry their offerings. Carts were finally all gathered in a common location where a draw took place to determine which cart would be given to which monastery.
But Taunggyi, in Shan State, has another major event taking place simultaneously: the hot air balloon festival. It is held several days in a row. During the afternoon, kids and students launch comparatively small paper balloons, while at night it turns into a more professional show: huge balloons (with candles all around and sometimes throwing fireworks) are launched by very skilled groups of adults. We found it very dangerous actually as the fireworks were launched directly below the flying balloon and sometimes ended up in the crowd. If a balloon had failed to fly, the fireworks would have exploded on the ground right in the middle of the audience, for sure causing many injuries. The crowd wasn't deterred by the danger at all and they stayed there all night watching illuminated balloons heading high up in the sky.
This festival seems to be of PaO inspiration.