For most Sri Lankans, wherever they are in the world, New Year’s Eve is about gathering around the table, sharing delicious feasts and – quite simply – having a good time surrounded by those they love. It’s a time that is both reflective and joyful, one that marks togetherness, fortune, and prosperity. 

For Sinhalese and Tamils across the island, the new year – called Aluth Avurudu or Puthandu – falls in April, rooted in customary rituals honouring the sun god. This harvest festival marks renewal, abundance, and bounties of the land. Similarly, the beginning of a new year in January, too, is a time of celebration for all of us at home in Sri Lanka.

As the year draws to a close, we take a look at how Sri Lankans welcome the new year with traditions, customs, and, of course, the parties. ​

New Year's Eve celebrations in Sri Lanka

In Colombo, the countdown begins on the 31st night, with dinners, parties, fireworks, and booze. Hotels and restaurants along the south and west coast throw in mixology sessions, galas, music, and dinner buffets. Young people flock to beach parties in resort towns like Unawatuna, Mirissa, and Arugam Bay. Things are more low-key and relaxed elsewhere along the coast with small gatherings. Not to mention the UNESCO-listed, three-century-old Galle Fort, which is fabulous for a more romantic celebration with dimly-lit lights, heritage boutique restaurants, and intimate gatherings.

When we were children growing up in small towns, however, we turned to local television channels all night. There were special New Year’s Eve programmes, everything from live music shows to reflective discussions, international children’s films dubbed in local languages, and award-winning cinema. Our parents would mark the beginning of the New Year by lighting oil lamps as offerings to deities at midnight. On the day of the New Year, which is a public holiday in Sri Lanka, mothers would light up the hearth to boil fresh milk in a clay pot until it overflows. It’s a deeply revered act that symbolizes good fortune, blessings, and successes for the year ahead. You’ll see these rituals at home even today, from urban Colombo to small interior villages and workplaces across Sri Lanka.

Sri Lankan New Year Food

Food, good food, is integral to island life. Even recently, my mother phoned me to fill me in about the crispy, crunchy, and beautifully flower-shaped snacks she plans on making for the New Year. For these savoury snacks – called kokis – she would use a mold from our neighbour, which she believes is the best one around. She would dip the mold in a simple, slightly runny batter made of rice flour and coconut milk, coloured yellow with a tinge of turmeric. This coated mold then goes into the hot oil, and releases the kokis, which is fried until it turns to a gorgeous golden yellow.

Kokis, with its origins tied to the Dutch colonial period in Sri Lanka, is just one of those [savoury] sweetmeats families would prepare to welcome the New Year. These sweets, desserts, and snacks are made a few days in advance. While my mother and I prefer kokis for their delightful crunch, my father and sister would pick something sweet, like small sesame seeds and jaggery rolls wrapped in white crepe paper. They pair well with a cup of ginger-infused tea.

As our lives get busier, most of us, particularly in urban areas, now turn to store-bought sweets, cakes, and snacks. Pop into a supermarket just before the New Year, and you’ll find aisles filled with just-baked butter cake, ribbon cake (vanilla cake with dyed layers of pink and light green, topped with a layer of icing), cupcakes, cookies and deep-fried kevum (slightly crispy, sweet rice flour snacks).

The day of the New Year

On the day of the New Year, however, families wake up early to prepare kiribath (rice cooked in coconut milk), using a slender, short-grain rice variety called kekulu. Kiribath is central to every celebration across Sri Lanka; it symbolizes unity and abundance, and invites blessings for the year to come. Sometimes, our mothers would allow the coconut milk to overflow, which reflects the wealth of prosperity. When workplaces and businesses resume work in the New Year, they, too, would follow similar traditions.

Kiribath is paired with sweetmeats, or enjoyed with katta sambal, a spicy condiment made of dried red chilli. Another popular condiment is the seeni sambal, a spicy, sweet, and slightly umami caramelized onion relish. Those with a sweet tooth can enjoy kiribath with jaggery (blocks of sugar made by boiling down the sap of coconut, fishtail, or palmyrah palm flower, or by concentrating sugarcane juice).

As with every other day that deserves to be celebrated, the New Year, too, is all about food shared with family, friends, colleagues, and neighbours. It’s love, friendship, and warmth on a plate.

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Happy New Year from all of us at Kolamba, our Sri Lankan cuisine restaurant in London. ​ ​ ​ ​ ​

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