Independence Day

4 th of Februrary is an important national occasion for Sri Lanka, celebrating the independence to Sri Lanka by the British back in 1948. Colourful parades and traditional dancers are a common sight.

Nawam Perahera

Held on Poya Day, a colourful parade of dancers, elephants and whip crackers light up the streets of Colombo (near Beira Lake) for 2 nights. This traditional perahera is organised by the Gangaramaya temple.

Sinhala & Tamil New Year

New Year in Sri Lanka (celebrated country wide by the Sinhalese and Tamils) is a time of great traditions and celebrations. New Year gifts are given to all, followed by a traditional meal (at an auspicious time) and ended by parties and firework displays. New Year celebrations continue for a few days!

May Day

Celebrating the international worker’s day, rallies and parades are organised by the Trade Unions.

Vesak

Vesak celebrates the birth, enlightenment and the death of Buddha. An important 2 day festival for Buddhists all over the world. The evenings are lit up with oil lamps and colourful paper lanterns throughout the country. The streets come to life with food stalls,
refreshments and open-air theatres.

Poson Full Moon Day

Another important religious day for Sri Lanka . Poson commemorates the arrival of Buddhism to Sri Lanka in the 3 rd Century B.C. Mihintale (approx. 10km from the ancient city of Anuradhapura) is where the main celebrations take place as this was where Buddhism was first preached by Arahat Mahinda, the son of Emperor Asoka of India. As well as festivities and colourful parades, Buddhists dressed in pure white climb up to the summit of Mihintale.

Kataragama festival

Kataragama, located in the South-East of Sri Lanka is an important pilgrim point. Both the Buddhists and the Hindus celebrate the Kataragama festival. A popular sight at this festival are the fire walkers.

Esala Festival (Kandy Perahara)

July/August sees the season of Esala festivals in the island. Without a doubt, the most spectacular and the most talked about festival is the Kandy Esala Perahera held in the beautiful city of Kandy . This 10 day event comprises of spectacular night processions followed by a grand finale (on the last day) of kandyan dancers and drummers in fantastic bright traditional costumes, Kandyan chiefs in medieval court attire and more than one hundred colourfully decorated elephants parade the street.

Deepavali (Diwali)

The festival of lights (celebrated by the Hindus) which symbolises the victory of righteousness and the lifting of spiritual darkness.

Adams Peak festival

The month of December sees the start of the pilgrimage season to climb
Adam’s Peak.