Sri Lanka Festivals 2027: Calendar, Dates and Where to Go

Sri Lanka’s 2027 festival year opens with Thai Pongal on Friday 15 January and closes with Christmas on Saturday 25 December, and every full moon in between is a poya holiday. The big processions come in two clusters: Kelaniya and Colombo in January and February, then Kandy, Kataragama, Colombo and Jaffna from July to September. The Central Bank’s 2027 holiday list fixes the holiday dates. The temples set the procession dates, and none had published 2027 dates when we checked on 3 November 2026.

Key takeaways

• Fixed dates you can book around now: Thai Pongal 15 January, the New Year on 13 and 14 April, the May and June full moons, and Deepavali on 28 October.
• The Kandy Esala Perahera is expected in July or August 2027. In 2025 and 2026 the Temple announced the dates about six weeks before the first street procession.
• Both recent Kandy finales fell on Nikini poya, about a month after Esala poya, so guides that tie it to Esala poya can be a month early.

Sri Lanka festival calendar 2027

“Confirmed” means the date is on the Central Bank list or announced by the organiser. “Expected” means the event happens around that time every year, but no 2027 date has been published. The 2026 dates show last year’s pattern.

The full holiday list, with what closes on each day, is in our Sri Lanka public holidays guide.

Kandy Esala Perahera 2027: what is known

**Perahera** means procession, and the Kandy Esala Perahera is a series of night processions for the Sacred Tooth Relic kept at the Sri Dalada Maligawa. Sri Lanka Tourism calls it the island’s “most tourist-oriented festival”. It lists drummers, dancers, whip-crackers, acrobats and robed elephants, with a caparisoned tusker carrying the relic casket.

The 2027 dates

We found no announcement from the Temple when we checked on 3 November 2026. The Central Bank list puts Esala poya on Sunday 18 July 2027 and Nikini poya on Monday 16 August 2027. Expect the Perahera in July or August 2027, and wait for the Temple’s announcement before you book anything that cannot be changed.

How the last two years ran

In 2025 the Diyawadana Nilame, the Temple’s chief custodian, announced the dates on 19 June, Ada Derana reported. The street processions began on 30 July and the final Randoli Perahera ran on Nikini poya, 8 August. For 2026 the schedule was finalised at the Temple on 8 July. The Kap planting ritual came on 13 August, five Kumbal processions ran from 18 to 22 August, Randoli processions from 23 August and the final one on 27 August. A day procession closed the festival on 28 August. The Temple’s own website carried that 2026 table. Both finales fell on Nikini poya. The Sri Lanka Tourism page says the festival climaxes on Esala poya, which did not happen in either year.

The street nights come in two sets: the **Kumbal Perahera** first, then the **Randoli Perahera**, which the Daily Mirror’s 2026 report calls the glamorous one. The last Randoli night is the final procession.

Seats and crowds

In July 2025 the Mayor of Kandy said the Kandy Municipal Council sells a limited number of official seats along the Queen’s Hotel corridor, at Rs. 12,000, Rs. 15,000 and Rs. 18,000. The Daily Mirror reported that resold seats were going for Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 65,000. In August 2026 the Central Province police said that seats may not block pavements kept for devotees. They also said that in 2025 some people posing as guides had overcharged foreign visitors for seats. Buy from the council or a seller who names the date, the block and the price in writing. The 2026 festival had 6,200 police officers, 564 Special Task Force officers and 1,200 members of the armed forces on duty, News 1st reported. Our advice is to book a Kandy room as soon as the 2027 dates are out. Our Kandy in one day guide covers the Temple and the town.

Elephants

At the same June 2025 meeting, the Diyawadana Nilame and the chiefs of the four shrines called the fall in domesticated elephants a significant challenge for the Perahera, Ada Derana reported. They put the number at about 90, down from around 200 a few years earlier. In August 2026 the Central Province Governor said, as the Daily Mirror reported, that the proposed Animal Welfare Act has provisions on elephants but places no restrictions on the Perahera. Police said in 2026 that anyone pointing a laser at the elephants would be arrested, and that loud horns that could frighten them were banned along the route.

Duruthu and Navam: the Colombo peraheras

Duruthu Perahera, Kelaniya (January)

The Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara, just outside Colombo, marks the Buddha’s third visit to the island with a January procession. In 2026 it ran on three nights, 8, 9 and 10 January, each from 8pm, the Daily Mirror reported. Temple authorities said they would set aside a viewing enclosure for foreign tourists. The same report says the procession dates back to 1927, a century before 2027. We found no 2027 dates for it on 3 November 2026.

Navam Perahera, Gangaramaya (February)

The Gangaramaya temple at Hunupitiya in Colombo holds its Navam Maha Perahera to coincide with Navam poya. In 2026 it ran on the night before the poya and on the poya itself, 31 January and 1 February. Police ran a traffic plan from 6.30pm until the procession ended each night, News 1st reported, and the same report listed dance groups and many elephants in the procession. Navam poya in 2027 is Saturday 20 February. We found no 2027 procession dates on 3 November 2026. Our February guide covers the rest of that month.

Hindu festivals: Thai Pongal, Vel, Kataragama, Nallur and Deepavali

Thai Pongal (15 January)

This is the Tamil harvest festival and a public holiday. Families cook pongal, a rice dish, and let milk boil over in a clay bowl as a sign of plenty, then offer the rice to the Sun God. News 1st described these customs in January 2025.

Vel festival, Colombo (July)

Sri Lanka Tourism describes the silver chariot of the god Skanda and his vel, or spear, being paraded across Colombo. In 2026, on 28 July, the chariot set off from the Kathiresan Kovil on Sea Street in Pettah in the morning and was due in Bambalapitiya at about 8.30pm. It returned on 31 July, Newswire reported. Police warned of congestion on Galle Road through Kollupitiya and Bambalapitiya on the first evening, so leave extra time if you are driving south that day.

Kataragama Esala festival (July)

The shrine at Kataragama in the south holds its own Esala festival, known for fire walking. The Daily Mirror reported in June 2026 that the festival would run from 15 to 30 July. Its timetable put the fire walking in the small hours of 27 July and the great procession on 29 July. A water cutting ceremony in the Menik Ganga closed it on 30 July. Pilgrims also walk there on the Pada Yatra, and in 2026 the army reported that their route in through the Okanda entrance was open from 10 to 24 July.

Nallur festival, Jaffna (August to September)

The Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil holds a festival of about 25 days. In 2026 the flag was raised on 17 August. The Northern Province Governor gave Jaffna and Nallur schools a holiday on 9 September 2026 for the chariot festival. In July 2026 Jaffna authorities banned music shows in the city for a month from 17 August, Counterpoint reported. They also said the sale and eating of meat and fish, and drinking alcohol, would be banned during the pilgrimage season. Plan meals around that if you stay near the temple.

Deepavali (28 October)

The festival of lights is a public holiday on Thursday 28 October 2027. Homes light small lamps and draw kolam patterns in coloured rice flour at the door, and people buy new clothes and give gifts and sweets, Yamu explains.

Maha Shivaratri, on Saturday 6 March, is also a public holiday. Muslim festivals follow the lunar calendar: the Central Bank list has Eid ul-Fitr on 10 March and Eid ul-Adha on 17 May 2027.

Sinhala and Tamil New Year in April

The New Year holiday falls on Tuesday 13 and Wednesday 14 April 2027. The Ministry of Buddhasasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs has issued the auspicious times. They put the dawn of the new year at 3.29pm on Wednesday 14 April, Ada Derana reported in August 2026.

In 2026 the list set a time to light the hearth and cook the first meal, wearing red and facing south. It also set the oil anointing for the next morning, with herbal oil and neem leaves, Ada Derana reported. Our April guide covers travel that week.

Poya days and what they mean for visitors

A **poya** is the full moon day of each lunar month, and every one is a public holiday, twelve times in 2027. Can you buy a drink on one? GOV.UK, still current on 3 November 2026, says you usually cannot buy alcohol on religious holidays, and that public drinking then may cause offence.

The May full moon falls on Wednesday 19 May 2027, with Thursday 20 May also a holiday. Sri Lanka Tourism names it as the most important poya, marking the Buddha’s birth, enlightenment and passing. Its page points visitors to the lit pandols, bamboo frames hung with pictures of the Buddha’s life. Our May guide has the detail for that week. The June full moon falls on Friday 18 June, and our June guide covers it.

Galle Literary Festival and Christmas

The Galle Literary Festival’s website gave 17 to 21 March 2027 in Galle Fort when we checked on 3 November 2026, with more details “coming soon”. The organisers postponed the 2026 edition to review their funding, the Sunday Times reported in November 2025. Older guides that place it in late January or early February describe earlier years.

Christmas Day is a holiday on Saturday 25 December 2027. Our Christmas in Sri Lanka guide covers churches, midnight Mass and New Year’s Eve.

Festival etiquette for visitors

For temple rules, GOV.UK (advice updated 21 September 2026) is plain. Cover your legs and shoulders and take off shoes and hats when you enter a Buddhist temple. Do not pose for photos with your back to a Buddha statue. Showing disrespect to Buddhist images or artefacts can get you arrested, and a visible Buddha tattoo can mean being refused entry or deported.

The same page warns that an attack cannot be ruled out and names religious occasions, public holidays and big gatherings as possible targets. It advises avoiding crowded places and following local authorities, which at a procession means the police on the route. Our Sri Lanka safety guide covers the wider picture.

Which festivals fit which trip

A January to March trip can take in Thai Pongal, the Kelaniya and Gangaramaya peraheras, Maha Shivaratri and the Galle Literary Festival. The two peraheras are in or near Colombo, so plan a night there. April has the New Year holidays on the 13th and 14th.

May and June have the Vesak and Poson full moons, with Vesak lights and pandols. July to September is the season for Kandy, Kataragama, the Vel festival and Nallur, and our August guide covers that month’s weather and travel. Later in the year come Deepavali and Christmas.

If you want help fitting a festival into your route, send us your dates and the festival you have in mind.

Sri Lanka festivals: questions

When is the Kandy Esala Perahera in 2027? The Temple of the Tooth had not announced the 2027 dates when we checked on 3 November 2026. Expect July or August. The two candidate full moons are Sunday 18 July (Esala) and Monday 16 August (Nikini), and the finales in 2025 and 2026 both fell on Nikini poya.

Do I need a ticket to watch the Kandy Perahera? In August 2026 police said the pavements along the route are kept for devotees and seats may not block them. Reserved seats are sold. In 2025 the Kandy Municipal Council’s official seats were Rs. 12,000 to Rs. 18,000, while resold seats were reported at Rs. 50,000 or more.

Can tourists drink alcohol on poya days? Not easily. GOV.UK advises that alcohol is generally unavailable on religious holidays, and it warns that open drinking on those days may offend, so ask your hotel what it serves on the day.

What should I wear to a temple festival? GOV.UK says cover your legs and shoulders and take off shoes and hats in a Buddhist temple.

Which festivals have fixed dates in 2027? Those on the Central Bank list: Thai Pongal 15 January, Maha Shivaratri 6 March, the New Year on 13 and 14 April, the full moons, Deepavali 28 October and Christmas.

Hero photo: elephants in cloth and lights at the Kandy Esala Perahera on 18 August 2013, by Daniel Liabeuf, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

• Esala Perahera
• Kandy Esala Perahera
• Sri Lanka travel guide

Gayan Weerasinghe

Gayan Weerasinghe writes and updates the Sri Lanka travel guides on Oura Travel. His updated guides are checked against primary sources, from the Department of Meteorology and Sri Lanka Railways to the Department of Wildlife Conservation, every drive is timed on a route planner, and each fact carries the date it was last checked.