The calendar
Every festival, full moon and season worth planning a journey around. Dated entries are gazetted; the rest name the month, because the day is not set this far ahead.
The quiet high season
Islandwide
The first full moon of the year, marking the Buddha’s first visit to the island.
North and east, Colombo
The Tamil harvest festival. Milk and rice boiled until the pot overflows, which is the point of it.
Colombo
The island’s interdisciplinary arts festival, now in its ninth edition. Eleven days of exhibitions, performances, screenings and workshops across the city. 2026’s edition is titled ‘Rhythm Alliances’.
Galle Fort
Four days of writers, ideas and performance inside the ramparts, with an opening night on the 21st. Amitav Ghosh, Lemn Sissay and Banu Mushtaq among the 2026 names. Rooms in the Fort go early.
Kelaniya
Colombo’s own procession, at the Kelaniya temple, timed to the Duruthu full moon. Smaller than Kandy and far easier to see.
Mirissa
Blue whales off the southern trench, and the calmest seas of the year.
Jaffna
Carnatic music, Bharatanatyam and contemporary artists in the north. Held every other year; check before you plan around it.
Processions and the driest air
Islandwide
The February full moon.
Colombo
The 78th. Parades, and a good deal of the city closed.
Green Path, Colombo
The 33rd open-air art fair, uncurated by design: several hundred painters and sculptors along one road, with the work leaning against the railings.
Hindu temples islandwide
A night of vigil and fasting for Shiva, kept until dawn.
Gangaramaya, Colombo
Elephants, dancers and torchlight through the streets around Beira Lake. The city’s largest procession.
Heat building, hills still cool
Islandwide
The March full moon.
Islandwide
The end of Ramadan. Confirmed only on the sighting of the moon, so it can move by a day.
Sri Pada
The season runs from December to May. March nights are clear and the queue is long.
Colombo, south coast
The electronic circuit runs through the dry months — beach parties on the south coast, warehouse nights in Colombo. Dates are announced weeks ahead, not months.
The island stops
Islandwide
The April full moon.
Islandwide
Observed in the Catholic coastal towns especially.
Islandwide
The biggest shared celebration of the year. The New Year dawns at 9:32am on the 14th, and the hearth is lit at 10:51am. Almost everything closes and every train is full.
Nuwara Eliya
The hill station fills for the April season: horse racing, flower shows and a great many Colombo families.
Two full moons
Islandwide
A rare second Vesak moon, and Labour Day on the same date.
Islandwide
Subject to the sighting of the moon.
Islandwide
The holiest date in the Buddhist year. Lanterns in every street, illuminated thoranas, and dansal handing out free food to anyone passing. Moved from 1 May at the request of the Maha Sangha.
The south turns, the east opens
Anuradhapura, Mihintale
Marks the arrival of Buddhism on the island in the third century BC. Mihintale is the place to be, and it is crowded.
Arugam Bay
The south-west monsoon puts the east coast in order. The point starts working.
Galle, Colombo
Galle’s ground sits beneath the Fort ramparts, which you can watch from for free. Fixtures are set a season ahead.
Fire and drums
Islandwide
The July full moon.
Kataragama
Two weeks of fire-walking and kavadi in the deep south, drawing Buddhists, Hindus and Vedda together at one shrine.
Minneriya
As the tank shrinks, the herds come down to the grass. It peaks in August and September.
Colombo, Jaffna
The chariot of Skanda hauled through the streets. Timed to the Tamil month of Aadi.
The grandest month
Kandy
Ten escalating nights of drummers, dancers, whip-crackers and caparisoned elephants around the Temple of the Tooth. The largest procession in Asia. Seats and hotel rooms go months ahead.
Sri Lanka
The label brings its open-air series to the island.
Islandwide
Subject to the sighting of the moon.
Islandwide
The August full moon.
Jaffna
Twenty-five days at the Kandaswamy temple, the great festival of the north.
Arugam Bay
The point hosts international qualifying events through the peak of the season.
Everything thins out
Islandwide
The September full moon.
Colombo
South Asian designers on the island’s largest style platform. Dates are announced by the organisers each year — confirm before booking.
Minneriya, Kaudulla
The largest concentration of wild Asian elephants anywhere, on the exposed lakebed at dusk.
BMICH, Colombo
South Asia’s largest book fair: several hundred stands and well over a million visitors. Entirely local, and the better for it.
The turn
Islandwide
The October full moon.
Islandwide
Rain on both coasts, briefly. The cheapest month to travel, and a fair gamble.
Lights, and the south reopens
North, east and Colombo
Oil lamps, sweets and fireworks in Hindu households across the island.
Islandwide
The November full moon.
Galle to Tangalle
The whale boats go back out, the beaches fill, and the rates climb.
The island at its busiest
Anuradhapura
Marks Sanghamitta bringing the sacred Bo sapling to the island.
Islandwide
Kept seriously in Negombo and the Catholic coastal towns.
Sri Pada
The pilgrimage season begins on Unduvap Poya and runs to Vesak.
South and west
The busiest three weeks of the year. Book everything early.
Negombo, west coast
The Catholic coast keeps Christmas seriously — midnight mass, carols and lit streets from Negombo down to Chilaw.
A note on 2026
Two full moons fall inside the same lunar month this year. The gazette first listed Vesak on 1 May, then moved it to 30 May at the request of the Maha Sangha, who hold that the Visakha Nekatha falls on the later date. 1 May is now Adhi Vesak. Any calendar printed before that change has it wrong.
Poya days are dry days: alcohol is not sold, and government offices, banks and schools close. Dates marked as a season are real but not yet fixed — ask us and we will confirm them closer to the time.
Planning around a date?
Perahera seats and hill country rooms go months ahead, and the New Year closes the island for a week. We will build the route around whatever you want to be there for.
