Music events in Colombo

Colombo is where the island's music industry actually operates. In a given month the city runs acoustic and jazz nights in small bars and cafés, covers and tribute bands in hotel lounges, full-scale concerts on open-air grounds and in indoor arenas, and DJ sets on rooftops that go past midnight. Baila turns up at anything with a crowd. December is the peak, when annual concerts, visiting acts and returning diaspora artists stack up and the bigger shows sell out weeks ahead through the organiser's own seller. Smaller gigs are usually pay-at-the-door, and poya days remove the bar-led ones entirely.