Arts events in Galle

Galle's arts calendar is the densest outside Colombo, and it is concentrated into the dry months. Between roughly December and April the fort hosts literary events and author talks, gallery openings, photography and craft exhibitions, film screenings and readings in the old Dutch houses, run by a small resident arts community and swelled by visitors. Many are free to attend; the ticketed ones — talks, workshops, supper-club evenings — seat only a few dozen and are sold directly by the organiser, often the day they are announced. Outside the season the pace drops sharply.