FESTIVAL FIESTA
Ready or not, we will soon be in the second half of the year – and Sri Lanka is looking feisty, festive and fabulous!
There’s nothing that brings Sri Lankans together more than a reason to party, and we’ve got the biggest and best festivals to keep the island in a spin between June and August!
You would think that Kandy had its fair share of crowds in April during the exposition of the Sacred Tooth Relic at the Sri Dalada Maligawa but the ancient capital isn’t done for the year. The Kandy Esala Perahera will begin in July with the first Kumbal Perahera and conclude with the Grand Randoli Procession in August.
And in July, the streets of Colombo will come alive with dancing, music and ancient rituals for the Aadi Vel Festival.
While Colombo is dancing, and Kandy is dolling up with pomp and pageantry, the Kataragama Esala Festival is bound to attract huge crowds to the southeastern part of the island from 26 July to 9 August.
And as these festivities come to a close, we will see the northern part of the island light up with the Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil festival, which will run from 28 July until 24 August.
If you’re not taking part in any of the festivities but having a bout of FOMO, you can participate virtually in your version of a pilgrimage.
The annual padayatra pilgrimage sees devotees making the long trek on foot from Jaffna in the north to Kataragama on the southeastern coast of the island to attend the Kataragama Esala Festival – a distance of about 400 kilometres. Make a quest of this on the treadmill or wherever you take your daily steps… and get in on some of the action at your own pace.
Not too fussed about festivities or counting steps? No sweat (pun intended)! This is also couch potato season since there’s so much happening in the sports arena.
Sri Lanka is to play host to Bangladesh across the three men’s cricket formats for a month starting on 17 June.
On foreign soil, there’s the US Open (Golf) Championship teeing off on 12 June, Wimbledon’s The Championships taking place on grass from 30 June to 13 July and the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup between 14 June and 13 July.
That’s a lot of TV time!
And if sport isn’t your fancy, you still have a treat to look forward to as we’re finally going to pop the corn for 2025’s most awaited blockbuster movie – Jurassic World Rebirth, which will hit cinemas on 2 July.
So what’s your plan going forward?