High Commission of Sri Lanka, London

Sri Lankan Sinhala and Tamil New Year Celebrations bring communities together across the United Kingdom

The Sri Lankan High Commission in London was delighted to witness the vibrant spirit of the Sinhala and Tamil New Year being celebrated across the United Kingdom, as Sri Lankan communities came together in a series of colourful and meaningful gatherings during April and May 2026.
High Commissioner Nimal Senadheera and Mission officials attended a wide range of events held in Wales, London, Milton Keynes, Glasgow, Bedfordshire, Letchworth, Kent, North Cumbria, the Midlands, and Liverpool. These celebrations were thoughtfully organised by Sri Lankan community members as well as by religious and cultural institutions reflecting a strong sense of unity, pride, and continuity in preserving Sri Lankan traditions. Through traditional rituals, cultural performances, games, and Sri Lankan cuisine, the gatherings reflected the depth and diversity of Sri Lanka’s cultural heritage, while also highlighting the strong bonds within Sri Lankan communities across the United Kingdom.
The High Commission extends its sincere appreciation to all organisers and volunteers for their dedication. It remains committed to supporting Sri Lankan communities and strengthening the longstanding ties between Sri Lanka and the United Kingdom.

High Commission of Sri Lanka in London
14. May. 2026

📢 Sri Lanka Expo has been officially rescheduled to January 2027!

The premier international trade exhibition will bring together global buyers, investors, and exporters to showcase Sri Lanka’s export excellence, innovation, and investment opportunities across multiple sectors.

🌍 750+ exhibitors
🤝 2,000+ international buyers
📍 Colombo, Sri Lanka
📅 January 14–17, 2027

Discover new business opportunities and connect with Sri Lanka’s thriving export ecosystem.

Read more: https://bit.ly/431rfQz

High Commission of Sri Lanka in London Honours Promotion of Brigadier B D Fernando to Major General

The High Commission of Sri Lanka in London is pleased to announce the promotion of Brigadier B D Fernando USP Hdmc psc, who is currently serving as the Minister Counsellor (Defence) at the High Commission, to the rank of Major General in the Sri Lanka Army.
Having joined the Sri Lanka Army in 1993, his distinguished military career spans over three decades of dedicated service in operational command, defence leadership, and international peacekeeping. Prior to this appointment, he served as Brigade Commander and Centre Commandant of the Sri Lanka Signal Corps.
In recognition of this significant milestone, High Commissioner Nimal Senadheera formally felicitated Major General Fernando and presented the respective insignia at a ceremony held at the High Commission on 11 May 2026, attended by family, friends, and staff members of the High Commission.
The High Commission extends its warmest congratulations to Major General B D Fernando and wishes him continued success in his service to the nation.

12. May. 2026
High Commission of Sri Lanka in London

On Sunday, 3 May 2026, High Commissioner Nimal Senadheera visited the Sri Sambuddhathwa Buddhist Viharaya in Liverpool, where the Chief Incumbent Thissapura Sugatharathana Thero, and members of the Liverpool Sri Lankan Community Centre warmly welcomed him and presented him with £3,500, which they had raised to donate to the Rebuilding Sri Lanka Fund in support of those affected by Cyclone Ditwah.

The High Commissioner warmly acknowledged the contribution and conveyed deep appreciation for their compassion, unity, and solidarity with those impacted by the disaster.

The High Commission of Sri Lanka in the United Kingdom conducted a mobile consular service in Liverpool on Sunday, 03 May 2026, alongside the Liverpool Sri Lanka New Year Festival 2026, the annual New Year celebration organised by the Liverpool Lankans Alliance.
The service drew over 100 community members from across the region, who benefited from a range of consular services, including applications for birth registration, passport renewal, dual citizenship, powers of attorney, foreign leave, and other consular matters.
It was led by Second Secretary of the High Commission Ms Janani Sivapakthan, together with other consular staff members.
This mobile consular service reflects the High Commission’s continued commitment to making consular support more accessible, responsive, and closer to Sri Lankans living across the United Kingdom.

The High Commission of Sri Lanka in the United Kingdom conducted a mobile consular service in Birmingham on Saturday, 02 May 2026, alongside Midland Surya Mangalya 2026, the annual New Year celebration organised by the Jethavana Buddhist Vihara Trust in Birmingham.
The service drew over 100 community members from across the region, who benefited from a range of consular services, including applications for birth registration, passport renewal, dual citizenship, power of attorney, foreign leave, and other consular-related matters. It was led by Second Secretary of the High Commission Ms Janani Sivapakthan, together with other consular staff members.
This mobile consular initiative reflects the High Commission’s continued commitment to making consular support more convenient, responsive, and closer to where Sri Lankans reside across the United Kingdom.

SLHC-London and APSL Research Symposium 2026 – Call for Abstracts

Special Notice

Special Holiday Notice – 01st May 2026

සූර්යයා මීන රාශියෙන් මේෂ රාශියට සංක්‍රමණය වීමත් සමඟ උදාවන සිංහල සහ දමිළ අලුත් අවුරුද්ද, ශ්‍රී ලාංකේය සංස්කෘතික අනන්‍යතාවය විදහාපාන ප්‍රධාන උත්සවය වේ. සොබාදහම සමඟ බැඳුණු මෙම සංස්කෘතික මංගල්‍යය, සහජීවනය සහ සාමූහිකත්වය පෙරදැරිකරගත් සියලු ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයන්ගේ හදවත් යා කරන පාලමක් බඳුය.

​ලෝකය පුරා විසිරී සිටිමින් නව වසර උදාව සමරන ශ්‍රී ලාංකික, ඔබ මව්බිමෙන් සහ තම සමීපතමයන්ගෙන් දුරස්ව, අවුරුදු සැමරීම අසීරු සහ සංවේදී අත්දැකීමක්. එසේ වුවද, ඔබ විදෙස්ගතව සිටින්නේ ඔබේ දරුවන්, ඔබේ දෙමාපියන්, ඔබේ නෑ හිතමිතුරන්ගේ අවශ්‍යතා සහ සිහින සැබෑ කිරීම වෙනුවෙන් බව අපි දනිමු. ඔබ දරන ඒ අප්‍ර‍තිහත ධෛර්යය සහ කැපවීම අපේ මාතෘභූමියට විශාල ජවයක් සහ ශක්තියක් බව මම කෘතඥපූර්වකව සිහිපත් කරමි.

​ඔබ වෙසෙන රටේ සාමූහිකව සංවිධානය කරමින් අවුරුදු උත්සව හරහා ශ්‍රී ලාංකේය සංස්කෘතියේ අභිමානය එම රටවලට ප්‍රදර්ශනය කිරීමටත්, ශ්‍රී ලාංකේය දරු පරපුරට අවුරුදු සිරිත් විරිත් හුරු කිරීමටත් ඔබ ගන්නා උත්සාහය බෙහෙවින් අගය කරමි. එමඟින් ඔබ සැබෑ ලාංකිකත්වය සහ දේශමාමකත්වය ප්‍රදර්ශනය කරන බව මාගේ විශ්වාසයයි.

​එමෙන්ම, මේ අලුත් අවුරුදු සමයේ ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ සංචාරයේ නිරතව සිටින සංචාරකයන් ද මම ඉතා ආදරයෙන් පිළිගනිමි. ලෝකයටම අසීරු කාලසීමාවක ඔබ ශ්‍රී ලංකාව තෝරා ගැනීම අප අගය කරන අතර, අපේ සංස්කෘතියේ සුවඳ විඳගනිමින් අලුත් අවුරුදු චාරිත්‍ර වාරිත්‍ර "බක් මහ අසිරිය" අත්විඳීමටත් මම ඔබට ආරාධනා කරමි.

​උදාවූ මේ අලුත් අවුරුද්ද සියලු ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයන්ට, විශේෂයෙන් විදෙස්ගතව වෙසෙන ශ්‍රී ලාංකිකයන්ට, ඔවුන්ගේ පවුලේ සාමාජිකයන්ට, විදේශීය අමුත්තන්ට, සාමය, සතුට සහ සෞභාග්‍යය පිරි සුබ අලුත් අවුරුද්දක් වේවායි ප්‍රාර්ථනා කරමි!

​විජිත හේරත්
විදේශ කටයුතු, විදේශ රැකියා හා සංචාරක අමාත්‍ය
2026 අප්‍රේල් 14 දින

சூரியன் மீன ராசியிலிருந்து, மேஷ ராசிக்கு மாறும் சஞ்சாரிப்பதுடன் பிறக்கும் சிங்கள மற்றும் தமிழ்ப் புத்தாண்டு, இலங்கையின் பண்பாட்டு அடையாளத்தைப் பிரதிபலிக்கும் முக்கியமானதொரு பண்டிகையாகும். இயற்கையோடு பின்னிப் பிணைந்திருக்கும் இப்பண்பாட்டுத் திருநாள், சகவாழ்வையும் ஒற்றுமையையும் மைய விழுமியங்களாகக் கொண்ட அனைத்து இலங்கையர்களின் இதயங்களையும் இணைக்கும் பாலமொன்றாக விளங்குகிறது.

உலகெங்கிலும் வியாபித்து வாழும் இலங்கையர்களே, உங்கள் தாய்நாட்டையும் அன்புக்குரியவர்களையும் விட்டுப் பிரிந்து புத்தாண்டைக் கொண்டாடுவது ஒரு கடினமானதும், உணர்ச்சிப்பூர்வமானதுமான அனுபவமாகும். தங்களது பிள்ளைகள், பெற்றோர், உறவினர்கள் மற்றும் நண்பர்களின் கனவுகளை நனவாக்குவதற்காக நீங்கள் கடல்கடந்து பயணம் செய்துள்ளீர்கள் என்பதை நாம் புரிந்துகொள்கிறோம். தங்களின் அசைக்க முடியாத துணிவும், அர்ப்பணிப்புமே நமது தாய்நாட்டின் நல்வாழ்விற்கான ஆற்றல் மற்றும் வலிமையின் மாபெரும் சொத்து என்பதை இத்தருணத்தில் நினைவுகூர விரும்புகிறேன்.

நீங்கள் வசிக்கும் நாடுகளில் புத்தாண்டு கொண்டாட்டங்களை கூட்டாக ஏற்பாடு செய்வதில் நீங்கள் எடுக்கும் முயற்சிகளை நான் மனதாரப் பாராட்டுகிறேன். இமமுயற்சிகள், இலங்கை கலாச்சாரத்தின் பெருமையை அந்நாடுகளில் வெளிப்படுத்தவும், இலங்கையின் நாளைய சமுதாயத்தினருக்கு புத்தாண்டு மரபுகளை கற்றுக்கொடுக்கவும் உதவுகின்றன. இது நிச்சயமாக இலங்கை அடையாளத்தின் உண்மையான உணர்வையும், நாட்டின் மீதான தங்கள் உண்மையான அன்பையும் வெளிப்படுத்துகிறது.

இப்பருவத்தையும் அதன் கொண்டாட்டங்களையும், அனுபவிக்க இலங்கைக்கு வருகை தரும் அனைத்து சுற்றுலாப் பயணிகளையும் நான் அன்புடன் வரவேற்கிறேன். உலகில் நிலவும் இந்த அமைதியற்ற காலகட்டத்தில், புத்தாண்டு விழாவும் அதன் கொண்டாட்டங்களும் உங்களை மகிழ்ச்சியடையச் செய்யும் என்று நாங்கள் நம்புகிறோம்.

அனைத்து இலங்கையர்களுக்கும், அவர்களது குடும்ப உறுப்பினர்களுக்கும், வெளிநாட்டுப் பயணிகளுக்கும், குறிப்பாக வெளிநாடு வாழ் இலங்கையர்களுக்கும் அமைதி, மகிழ்ச்சி மற்றும் செழுமை நிறைந்த இனிய புத்தாண்டு வாழ்த்துகள்!

இனிய சித்திரைப்புத்தாண்டு நல்வாழ்த்துக்கள்!

விஜித ஹேரத்
வெளிநாட்டு அலுவல்கள், வெளிநாட்டு வேலைவாய்ப்பு மற்றும் சுற்றுலாத்துறை அமைச்சர்
2026, ஏப்ரல் 14

The Sinhala and Tamil New Year, which begins with the Sun's transition from Pisces (Meena Rashi) to Aries (Mesha Rashi), is the key festival that reflects Sri Lankan cultural identity. This cultural festival, intertwined with nature, is a bridge connecting the hearts of all Sri Lankans whose core values are coexistence and togetherness.

As Sri Lankans scattered across the world welcome the New Year, the joy of the season is often touched by a quiet ache - for it is never easy to celebrate such a deeply rooted tradition away from one’s homeland and the warmth of loved ones. We understand that you have travelled across the seas to make the dreams of your children, your parents, your relatives and friends come true. Let me make the opportunity to recall that your unwavering courage and dedication is the greatest asset of energy and strength for the well-being of our motherland.

I sincerely appreciate your efforts in collectively organizing New Year celebrations in your countries of residence. These efforts help showcase the pride of Sri Lankan culture to those countries and familiarize Sri Lankan children with the New Year customs. It is indeed a display of the true spirit of the Sri Lankan identity and your true love for the country.

I warmly welcome all the tourists visiting Sri Lanka to enjoy the season and its festivities. During this turbulent time in the world, we believe that the festival of the New Year and its celebrations will make you joyous and happy.

I wish all the Sri Lankans, their family members, foreign visitors, and especially the Sri Lankans living abroad a very happy New Year filled with peace, happiness, and prosperity!
Suba Aluth Auruddak Wewa!

Vijitha Herath
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Employment and Tourism
14 April 2026