Thadingyut comes at a happy time of year - the long monsoon rains have stopped, the air is fresh and clear, and the rice in the fields is starting to turn gold. Families do a big clean-up of their house, wash everyone's clothes, and then bring out the little oil lamps that they keep stored carefully for the year.
On the main night, every step of every pagoda is lined with rows of tiny flickering lamps. People walk slowly around in their best longyis, with the lights twinkling all around them. Hot-air paper lanterns are sometimes released into the night sky. From a hill outside town, the whole city looks like it is wearing fairy lights.
Children love Thadingyut because of the things you can eat. Fairs spring up around the festival - sweet rice cakes, fried snacks, fresh fruit, sticky sweets and warm doughnut-like balls called 'mont let saung'. Families eat together outside, often late into the warm evening.
Thadingyut is also a moment for saying thank you. Children traditionally visit their parents, grandparents and teachers to bow politely, give them a small gift (sometimes fruit, sometimes flowers, sometimes a longyi), and thank them. It is a quiet, kind tradition tucked inside a sparkling festival.