This festival is the largest community event in the Melbourne Sri Lankan calendar. Held every April to celebrate the Sinhala & Tamil New Year, it is a cultural event honoring Sri Lankan traditions. “Lissana Gaha”, “Kotta Pora”, “Kana Muttiya”, “Aliyata Aha Thibeema”, “Bunnis Kema” and “Sack Race” are some of the traditions at the festival. Over 6000 Melbournians participate. Festivities open with the traditional Sri Lankan New Year breakfast table for all participants. Traditional sport events are held for different age groups. New events are added every year. The most popular events are those for couples and the tug-of-war competition held at the end of the day. In 2012 a musical evening was successfully held for the first time. The association operated a food stall to cater for the community. Rice, curry, biryani, kottu and other Sri Lankan foods are prepared at the premises with high standards of food safety.
Over 150 association members volunteer for this event. Organizing the events, communication within various organisations, working with councils, advertising and coordinating prizes, catering, cleaning and packaging, logistics, first aid, parking & security are some of the enormous tasks that are carried out by the association. Preparation commences in January each year and the association is proud to be accountable for this event since 1995.
