Colombo's sky show: the International Kite Festival returns to Galle Face
80 flyers from 30 countries — and Sri Lanka's first night kite display — take over Galle Face Green on Sunday 9 August.
Colombo's seafront turns into a canvas this Sunday, 9 August, as the Colombo International Kite Festival takes flight at Galle Face Green. Around 80 international kite flyers from 30 countries join more than 1,500 Sri Lankan flyers for one of the island's biggest open-air spectacles.
The main festival runs from 1.00pm to 6.30pm, followed by a first for Sri Lanka: a Night Kite Festival from 6.30pm to 7.30pm, with illuminated kites over the Indian Ocean, and a concert running to midnight. This year's cultural theme is the Kandy Esala Perahera, with international participants also visiting the Sri Dalada Maligawa in Kandy.
It builds on a remarkable 2025 relaunch that drew 54 international flyers from 21 countries, coverage from 36 international media outlets and a ranking of 9th among 62 major kite festivals worldwide — part of a wider push to grow event-led tourism. If you're in Colombo this weekend, it's free, it's on the Green, and the best light is the last hour before sunset.
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