“The most companionable of all festivals”- that’s how Michael Morpugo describes the Galle Literary Festival. This award winning author of children’s books definitely knows what he is talking about, and this is just one more reason to try and join the host of literary enthusiasts in the festival next month. It’s not just Mr. Morpugo who has expressed his praise about the festival. The well respected Harpers Bazaar has also dubbed it “No.1 Literary Festival in world.” And this was done right after the festival’s debut a mere 2 years ago!

What are the features of the Galle Literary Festival? The general idea is to encourage intellectual and artistic interaction between respected writers from all around the world. People who may not have had the chance to get published but have a passion for literature are also welcomed with open arms.

The festival is jam packed with talks, debates, workshops, and other activities that will keep participants busy all throughout the five days. Renowned authors will be sharing stories that they have written about Sri Lanka, giving participants an insider’s glimpse. Aspiring children’s books authors may also take part in a workshop where Sandhya Rao will talk about writing in this genre. Other talks will revolve around fables, fairy tales, poetry, and more.

One particularly interesting workshop will be given by Lal Medawattegedera on the 29th of January – the Young Adults’ Writing Workshop. This is open to people aged 15 – 25. I think it’s a perfect “start of the year gift” for teenagers who are into writing. In this day and age, where reading and writing is not always considered “cool” anymore, exposure to a workshop like this can prove to be valuable.

Another excellent reason to join the festival is the fact that they are featuring crime writing (including graphic novels and pulp fiction) for the first time. The festival organizers are known for experimenting with various genres, and it really is exciting to see how the participants will respond to this potentially controversial development. I’ll go out on a limb and say that this is probably going to be a successful move!

The Galle Literary Festival will run from 28 January to 1 February 2010, and if you cannot afford to pay for passes that will allow access to every single event, you can still enjoy what Galle has to offer. This Sri Lankan city is located about 119km south of Colombo and is actually the fourth largest in the country. Galle is also the capital of the Southern Province.

There are a lot of attractions and activities that you can see and do in Galle. The Galle Fort is definitely a must-visit – it was built in 1988 and has been nominated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. You can also visit numerous temples and churches. Aside from these, popular destinations include tea estates and markets (be prepared for a chaotic but exciting experience). Rainforest treks, scuba diving, and other activities are also popular.

Mark your calendars – the Galle Literary Festival should be in your travel plans next year!

We ask all blog publishers to help bring awareness to the world today on the dire situation with climate change and the need for action!

Why Climate Change?

Climate change affects us all and it threatens more than the environment. It threatens to cause famine, flooding, war, and millions of refugees.

Given the urgency of the issue of climate change and the upcoming international climate negotiations in Copenhagen this December, we think the blogosphere has the unique opportunity to mobilize millions of people around expressing support for finding a sustainable solution to the climate crisis.

This is perhaps understood better than anyone by the people of Sri Lanka and those that have traveled to this beautiful island- after the calamitous Tsunami in 2004.

Suggested Posts

We encourage you to write about climate change in the context of how it relates to the topic of your blog. To help you start thinking, here are a few ideas about how you might connect climate change to things that you might already write about:

* A Technology or Business blog might write about emerging clean tech and how innovative companies might be able to help address the problem of climate change.

* A Health or Lifestyle blog might write about how climate change will affect our children’s health and daily living.

* A Nonprofit or Political blog might write about how climate change is deeply connected to many other issues – such as poverty and conflict.

* A Design blog might write about new trends in eco-friendly or sustainable design.

* A Travel blog might write about the places you want to see now before climate change makes them difficult to access or, well, under the sea.

Please join the 7,037 blogs in 135 countries and 11,211,921 readers in uniting over this urgent issue!

The autumn forecast is definitely hot in Colombo this year, with the upcoming World Spice Festival to take place in November. This festive international event will run from November 6th-14th, and based on the success of the past few years (it first started in 2005), visitors and residents will be treated to a lively, fun and definitely delicious week of all things spice.

Celebrity chefs will be flying in from around the world, showcasing their culinary talents from venues around the city – many doing week long festivals of cooking and competing at top hotels and restaurants. The food to look forward to? Cuban American, Moroccan, Arabian, Italian, Spanish, Portugese, Szechuan, Cantonese, Seafood, Thai, Indonesian Balinese, Korean, Malaysian, Singapore, Japanese, Indian, Pakistan and Sri Lankan specialties. Wow! And there’s more- a Sri Lanka Crab promotion and spice ice cream. Now that I’d love to try, while I enjoy viewing the Spice Painting competition.

For the first few days of the event, organizers are holding a public “Global Spice Food Village” from 6 to 8th November. At the Galle Face hotel Green you can expect a flurry of smart outdoor activities, and an exotic Spice Bazaar is open nightly on the banks of Beira Lake.

This year, participating hotels, cafes and restaurants at the “Global Spice Food Village” will be Hilton Colombo, Galle Face Hotel, Galadari, Cinnamon Lakeside (formerly Trans Asia), Cinnamon Grand, Taj Samudra, Ceylon Continental, Holiday Inn, Mount Lavinia, Waters Edge, Raja Bojun, Siam House, The Mango Tree, Sizzle Grill, Regina Margharita and Nihon Bashi.

For more information, contact the hotels above participating or the organizers of the event, the Sri Lanka Tourist Development Authority .

The Perahera in Kandy is one of the oldest and most amazing Buddhist events you can still see today in Sri Lanka. Imagine a colorful display of elephants dressed in full regalia, men cracking whips, dancing, making music, rituals, fireworks and more….culminating in the final night when the longest and most splendid procession takes place.

The tradition goes back as far as the 3rd Century BC, as a means of asking the gods for rainfall – the same reason it takes place today. Another reason for the celebrations (which has no less than five separate peraheras- or parades) is for the local people to honour the sacred relic from the Temple of the Tooth, which was once only seen by the kings. Today though, it is a replica casket paraded through the streets as the relic is no longer allowed to leave the holy temple.

Although I haven’t been to the Perahera myself (I promise myself I will next year!), I have heard that it is indeed an awesome show. A good friend reported it was the most thrillingly amazing festival he had seen in his life, which says a lot considering that he is an octogenarian who has traveled the world extensively!

The Esala Perahera is translated from Sinhalese as “Procession of the Full Moon of Esala”, and takes place annually in July/August. This year, the festival takes place on July 26th to August 5th, 2009, and while the event is free, we highly recommend that you book your hotel and plane/train tickets early as it probably the most popular events in Sri Lanka! If you haven’t yet, you could try some websites like Jetwing Travels or Last Minute.com. Read their description of the parade- wonderful!:

The procession includes fire-juggling acrobats, sumptuously decorated elephants, traditional dancers, oboe-tooting musicians, banners, palanquins, whip crackers, torch bearers and thousands of barefoot pilgrims and swordsmen….The action is made even more mesmerising because it happens at night. The old cannon booms after dusk and the Perahera (paraders) take to the streets for ten nights, with the parades growing ever longer each night until the final night of pageantry, when the parade is at its finest.

For a good collection of photos to see more of this fantastic event, please click here.