✦ FESTIVALS & EVENTS
Perahera processions, Vesak lanterns, New Year customs and nature seasons — month by month.
Buddhist festival Cultural festival Hindu festival Nature season Pilgrimage season Public holiday
Happening now
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Nature season
Minneriya, Kaudulla
In the dry season large herds of wild elephants gather on the grasslands around the ancient Minneriya reservoir.
Hindu festival
Island-wide, Jaffna
The Hindu festival of lights in October or November — oil lamps, sweets and temple pujas.
Year at a glance
Many Sri Lankan festivals follow the lunar calendar, so exact dates change every year — check the official dates before booking.
Dates move every year: Eid al-Fitr (Ramazan festival)
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Pilgrimage season
Nallathanniya, Hatton
From December to May pilgrims climb the sacred mountain of Sri Pada through the night to see sunrise from the summit.
Buddhist festival
Kelaniya
January processions at the Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara near Colombo, commemorating the Buddha’s first visit to Sri Lanka.
Hindu festival
Jaffna, Island-wide
The Tamil harvest festival in mid-January — rice is boiled until it overflows as a thanksgiving to the sun.
Nature season
Mirissa
From about December to April, boats from Mirissa look for blue whales, sperm whales and dolphins off the south coast.
Public holiday
Colombo
4 February — Sri Lanka marks independence from British rule (1948) with a national ceremony and flag-raising.
Hindu festival
Trincomalee, Mannar, Chilaw
The great night of Shiva — night-long prayers at the island’s ancient Shiva temples such as Koneswaram and Ketheeswaram.
Buddhist festival
Colombo
Colombo’s big February procession — elephants and dancers parade around Beira Lake from the Gangaramaya Temple.
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Cultural festival
Island-wide
Sri Lanka’s traditional New Year in mid-April — auspicious times, milk rice, sweets, family visits and village games.
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Buddhist festival
Island-wide, Colombo
The full-moon festival of the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and passing — lanterns, illuminated pandals and free food stalls island-wide.
Buddhist festival
Mihintale, Anuradhapura
The June full moon that marks the arrival of Buddhism in Sri Lanka — pilgrims in white climb Mihintale and gather in…
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Buddhist festival
Kandy
Ten nights of torch-lit processions in Kandy honouring the Sacred Tooth Relic — elephants, drummers and Kandyan dancers.
Buddhist festival
Kataragama
The Esala festival at Kataragama, sacred to Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims — processions, fire-walking and the long foot pilgrimage.
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Cultural festival
Jaffna
Twenty-five days of festivities at Jaffna’s Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil, culminating in the great chariot procession.
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Nature season
Minneriya, Kaudulla
In the dry season large herds of wild elephants gather on the grasslands around the ancient Minneriya reservoir.
Hindu festival
Island-wide, Jaffna
The Hindu festival of lights in October or November — oil lamps, sweets and temple pujas.
Cultural festival
Colombo, Negombo
25 December — midnight masses, decorated streets in Colombo and Negombo, and the start of the busy south-west beach season.
Public holiday
Island-wide
The festival that ends the fasting month of Ramadan — prayers, family visits and festive food in Sri Lanka’s Muslim communities.
Buddhist festival
Island-wide
Every full moon is a Poya day — a Buddhist public holiday when temples fill with worshippers dressed in white.
Pick your month in the trip planner — we will suggest the destinations, hotels and experiences that fit, and tell you what is on.