Karen New Year is one of the most important social and traditional events for Karen people around the world. It is a relatively recent celebration: Karen New Year was first officially celebrated in 1938. It is held on the first day of the Karen month of Th'lay, which falls in December or January.
In Queensland, the Karen community celebrates the New Year each year under the leadership of the Australian Karen Organisation (AKO). As the community has grown, the celebration has become larger and attracts guests from other communities. Because the Karen community in Brisbane lives in both the northern and southern suburbs, the venue alternates between the north and south of the city each year.
In 2017 the celebration was held on Brisbane's north side and was attended by more than 600 people, including guests from other communities and organisations such as the Multicultural Development Association (MDA) and the Queensland Program of Assistance to Survivors of Torture and Trauma (QPASTT).
The programme included the Don dance, a traditional Karen dance that symbolises the unity of the Karen people, with one performance organised by the south side community and a children's performance organised by the north side. Community leaders and representatives of other organisations spoke, and the youth and women's departments and individual young people performed songs. Awards were presented for the sports competitions held in the one to two weeks before the celebration, which included men's and women's soccer, cane ball, and men's and women's volleyball. As always, the celebration ended with food prepared by community members and served by young people.
