April
April is the month in which all the Sri Lanka people enjoy with fun and joy as the local New year to begin in this month. This is something similar to New Year eve in other parts of the world.
- Sinhala and Tamil New Year: Used to be celebrated all over the island in colorful ways on 13th and 14th of April. The entire Island falls in the festival mood and most of the shops in the towns and villages used to be closed. During these days you will get warm welcome at all places and you can have milk rice cooked with milk and locally made sweets in all the homes. In large towns there used to be local games and Music shows used to take place. Some time for one week you won't see businesses and shops to be closed.
- Whales and Dolphin Watching : In the Southern part of Sri Lanka, Mirissa is the popular place for to watch playing Whales and Dolphins as they used to visit this areas Ocean in this month. Hire one specially built boat for ocean going to view the whales and dolphins in the day time. Also good palces for whales and dolphins are Alankuda beach in Kalpitiya, Dondra, Trincomalee, Alutgama, Ambalangoda and Hikkaduwa.
- Nuwara Eliya Summer Holiday Festival : Nuwara Eliya is called as little England as it resembles typical English villages in England. This place is very cool while the rest of the country is experiencing hot weather. On 1st of April to 30th April the summer holiday festival used to take place. You can witness plenty of sports activities that used to include parades, horse racing, flower shows and many other shows used to take place along with night musical events.
May
- This is the month Sri Lanka Buddhists used to celebrate the Vesak Poya day which falls in the month of May. You can witness streets filled with color electric lighting and people used to make stalls and used to offer free food like rice and curry, boiled peas, Tapioca, drinks like milk coffee and ice cream to people passing them on the roads. Meanwhile some places like Fort, Borella, Dehiwala and many other places will have largely built unique art work decorated with color bulbs which are based on Buddha's life stories and are called as "Thorana" can be seen in these days. Lot of people used to gather here to watch and listen to those stories on these special days. Take note meat products and sprits are totally banned in these days all over the island. The violators will be punished by courts.
- If you want to visit any Buddhist Shrine on Vesak Full Moon Poya Days, wear long clothes covering your whole body. It is better in white dresses.
- This is the perfect month to visit Tour Sri Lanka as it is sunny all over the island and the day time temperature is far down than the month of April.
June
- Full Moon Poya day of June when Poson is practiced in Mihintale and Anuradhapura.
Tousands of Devotees used to travel over there. Sri Lanka Government used to offfer special train service to the pilgrims from Colombo Fort Station.
During this time lot of people used to visit these places. Every month there is a Poya Day and it is considered as public holiday.
This comes under the Buddhist religion. So on this particular Poya day all the liquor shops will be closed. No meat products are sold or served. No movies will be shown in the cinema halls. There used to be less frequent public bus service in the evening and night as there are less people on the roads.
July
- Kataragama Temple Festival, which is called as Perahara used to be celebrated from this month July up to the month of August
- Kandy Esala Perahara used to take place from July to August
- Nallur Kandaswamy Temple Annual Festival in Jaffna.
- Bellanvila Temple Perahara from July to August
- Hikkaduwa Beach Festival. People used to gather here from around the world to participate in the nights of festival.
August.
- There are many art and cultural events are held in this month in Sri lanka
September
- Ramazan Festival Day
- 5th - 15th Tuk tuk Rally
- Colombo Art Biennale of modern art.
October
- Deepavali Festival: Deepavali festival is also called as lighting festival. This is a great event in the Hindu religion and this festival is mostly celebrated in India, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Malaysia, Mauritius and other countries Hindu people are living. Most part of the festival take place in the Temple, while 2 - 3 weeks before the festival people used to buy new clothes for the festival.
So there is a big chance for to buy clothes at discounted price from the textile shops and Departmental Stores during this month. Late night shopping available at the centre of the city. On the Deepawali day you can witness lot of activities in the Hindu temples while new Tamil movies are released on this day as Blockbusters. You can expect movies from Top Tamil heroes like Rajinikanth, Vijay, Kamal Hasan, Ajith Kumar and from many others.
In Sri Lanka Deepawali is not celebrated in large scale as like in Singapore but will be happiest day in Sri Lanka specially in Colombo.
November
- According to Tamil Calendar the Deepavali Festival used to take place. Some time in this Month of November.
- Hadji Festival Day
- Annual Spice Festival of Colombo. In this Spice Festival you can witness all the Sri Lanka grown Spices and their by products. Visit here to Smell the aroma of the spices, taste them and you can purchase them too.. In this Festival, you can find extract of oil and other products that are extracted from the Sri Lanka grown Spices. Tourist can buy selected spice varieties in small amount that are specially packed in boxes to save their aroma, fragrance and flavor. This kind of packing is essential to keep the freshness.
December
- Adam's Peak: Sri Pada Mountain Pilgrimage Season starts in this month. Don't miss the opportunity to climb this mountain to view scenic sunrise in the mornings. Read More
- National Bird Watching Month: You can watch hundreds of varieties of immigrating birds and local birds during this season. Most of the birds used to make accommodations in the bird's sanctuaries around Sri Lanka. It is better to get a Birding Guide who must be an experienced one for the money you pay him. Many Hotels in the South provide Guides and photographic equipments on rent. Check with your Hotel for them.
- Christmas Week: Sri Lanka is not a Christian country although X-Mas along with New Year is celebrated widely all over the Island in grand. This week is celebrated with full of carols, music shows, fireworks and special events. You can find Holiday Sales in the Malls and Super Markets with heavy discounts during this season. Specially electronic and electric apparatus are put out on sales. Colombo Fort streets used to be fully packed during this X-Mas week with local shoppers.
- Negombo Beach Festival: The Negombo beach located in the Negombo city used to celebrate the International kit festival in the month of August every year. After that the beach festival that used to take place is for fun and joy where live bands play music for the visitors of the festival.
Sri Lanka Holidays 2024
15 Monday January 2024 Tamil Thai Pongal Day
25 Thursday January 2024 Duruthu Full Moon Poya Day
04 Sunday February 2024 Independance Day
23 Friday February 2024 Nawam Full Moon Poya Day
08 Friday March 2024 Maha Sivarathri Day
24 Sunday March 2024 Medin Full Moon Poya Day
29 Friday March 2024 Good Friday
11 Thursday April 2024 Id-Ul-Fitre (Ramazan Festival Day)
12 Friday April 2024 Day Prior to Sinhala & Tamil New Year
13 Saturday April 2024 Sinhala & Tamil New Year Day
23 Tuesday April 2024 Bak Full Moon Poya Day
01 Wednesday May 2024 May Day (International Workers’ Day)
23 Thursday May 2024 Vesak Full Moon Poya Day
24 Friday May 2024 Day Following Vesak Full Moon Poya Day
17 Monday June 2024 Id-Ul-Allah (Hadji Festival Day)
21 Friday June 2024 Poson Full Moon Poya Day
20 Saturday July 2024 Esala Full Moon Poya Day
19 Monday August 2024 Nikini Full Moon Poya Day
16 Monday September 2024 Milad-Un-Nabi (H-Prophet’s Birthday)
17 Tuesday September 2024 Binara Full Moon Poya Day
17 Thursday October 2024 Vap Full Moon Poya Day
31 Thursday October 2024 Deepawali Festival Day
15 Friday November 2024 Il Full Moon Poya Day
14 Saturday December 2024 Unduvap Full Moon Poya Day
25 Wednesday December 2024 Christmas Day