Things to do in Gampaha

Gampaha is a district capital half an hour up the railway line from Colombo, and its events belong to the town rather than to visitors. The schools carry a lot of it: matches at the grounds through the cricket season, prize-givings, drama and musical productions in the auditoriums, and the big-match weekends in February and March that fill the streets with flags and papare bands. Churches and temples fill much of the rest — feasts, peraheras, Vesak displays and the fairs that come with them — and the town's halls take concerts, exhibitions and the occasional touring show.

The botanical garden at Henarathgoda on the edge of town is the quiet option, and takes flower shows and school programmes now and then. Most of what happens in Gampaha is free or costs a small amount at the gate, and the organiser is usually a school, a parish committee or a club. Because so many residents commute into Colombo, evening events here start later than you would expect and the weekends carry the bulk of the calendar.