Business

SOLA Festival Returns: Building a Long-Term Model for Conscious Festival Culture

Published

8 months ago

2026/01/25

SOLA Festival returns to Sri Lanka’s south coast as an evolving cultural movement, continuing its mission to redefine festivals through community collaboration, sustainability, and conscious design. The festival will take place on the 30th and 31st of January at The Doctor’s House, Madiha.

Developed in close partnership with the local community in Madiha, near The Doctor’s House, where the festival has established its home, the SOLA Festival was conceived as a response to the increasingly extractive nature of tourism, which too often takes more from local communities than it gives back. The festival is guided by the core values of Respect, Inclusion, Sustainability, Creativity, and Collaboration, bringing people together through music, workshops, immersive experiences, and community-led initiatives.

Founded by a collective of designers and event makers from Copenhagen, SOLA aims to become one of the first fully waste-free and circular festivals in Asia and a global role model for sustainable events. Chief festival organisers, designers Susanna and Miranda, whose portfolio includes installations and designs for Copenhagen Fashion Week as well as projects with Collective Fashion Justice, explained that the idea for the festival was inspired by how incredibly warmly they were welcomed into the local community in Sri Lanka and their desire to give back and support that community “We started SOLA to show that festivals can bring joy, creativity, and music while also giving back to the communities and environments that host them,” says Susanna. “SOLA was conceptualized and created with a strong focus on working in harmony with nature and fostering meaningful community connections. Together with ouramazing partners, we want to prove that conscious, community-led events are not only possible, but inspiring, joyful, and sustainable.”

Following its inaugural edition in 2025, SOLA Festival has positioned itself as an annual event in Sri Lanka, growing thoughtfully each year with a long-term vision rather than as a one-off project. The 2025 edition welcomed 800 guests, featured international and local DJs, and hosted five activities and workshops, laying a strong foundation for the festival’s future direction.

This year, the festival is looking to nearly double the number of attendants, and will feature over a dozen DJs from more than five countries including internationally renowned Yung Singh, and local legend DJ Shiyam.

More than a music festival, SOLA is a multidimensional platform for art, learning, sustainability, and connection, and in keeping with this vision, the programme also includes traditional, community centric, creative activities including communal weaving sessions, natural dye workshops, drum circles, beaded fabric jewellery workshops, make-your-own merch sessions and more.

SOLA is being developed within the principles of a circular economy, and the organisers view SOLA as a project to be built and refined over many years, with each edition deepening its impact. As the festival grows, SOLA aims to involve more local and international collaborators, with the goal of becoming an international role model for sustainable events.

Sri Lanka’s long-standing values around craftsmanship, resourcefulness, and care for the earth are central to this vision. The team believes the country has the potential to become a global leader in sustainable tourism.

Community collaboration remains at the heart of the festival’s programming. For the upcoming dition, SOLA is working with a growing network of partners, including ApiHappi, Selyn Fairtrade, Sarana Sri Lanka and Sambol Foundation. The official banking partner for the event is Hatton Nation Bank.

The SOLA team, together with a local school and WeCare will conduct a beach clean-up ahead of the festival. Post the clean-up, the children will participate in a crafting session focusing on recycling and upcycling everyday waste, while learning about plastic and street dogs. Sambol Foundation will host a natural dye workshop before the festival and the fabrics will be used for festival installations. Selyn Fairtrade, House of Lonali and ApiHappi, will contribute fabric that local women will use to make reusable decorations for the event, ensuring the festival avoids purchasing all new materials in the future. Selyn has also taken on producing festival merchandise and running a fabric bead workshop. The festival will open with a traditional Sri Lankan fire ceremony, organised in collaboration with Sarana Sri Lanka. SOLA will also organize a fundraiser in collaboration with WeCare, an organisation dedicated to the wellbeing of local street dogs.

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Business

ADB approves $100 million loan to boost skills development and jobs for youth in Sri Lanka

Published

2 hours ago

2026/10/2

Thilina Walpola

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $100 million results-based loan to help Sri Lanka transform its technical and vocational education and training (TVET) system, equip more young people with industry-relevant skills, and strengthen the country’s competitiveness and inclusive growth.

The Skills Development System Transformation Program will support the Government of Sri Lanka’s efforts in improving the quality and relevance of skills training, strengthening links between training providers and industries, and expanding employment opportunities for youth. The program will increase women’s employment opportunities in nontraditional jobs in fields including automotive technology, engineering, information and communications technology, construction, and renewable energy.

“A skilled workforce is essential to Sri Lanka’s long-term economic transformation and competitiveness,” said ADB Country Director for Sri Lanka Shannon Cowlin. “This program will help create stronger pathways from education to employment by making training more responsive to industry needs, expanding opportunities for young people and women, and ensuring that graduates have the skills required by a modern and evolving economy.”

Though Sri Lanka’s economy is recovering, it faces skills shortages in priority sectors, high youth unemployment, and low female labor force participation. Many employers report difficulty finding workers with the skills needed in a changing economy.

Aligned with the Government of Sri Lanka’s Technical and Vocational Education and Training Sector Strategic Framework 2026–2035, the nationwide program will be implemented from 2027 to 2031 and is expected to directly benefit more than 100,000 young people through improved access to quality, employment-oriented training.

Business

USD 40.84m pipeline to secure aviation fuel supplies to BIA

Published

2 hours ago

2026/10/2

Thilina Walpola

By Ifham Nizam

The government has cleared a USD 40.84 million and Rs. 8,548.75 million contract to build a dedicated aviation fuel pipeline from Muthurajawela to Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA), alongside a massive new fuel storage facility with a capacity of 92,000 cubic metres.

Energy Minister Anura Karunatilaka said the project represented a major investment in strengthening the infrastructure underpinning Sri Lanka’s aviation fuel supply and ensuring more reliable fuel availability at the country’s main international airport.

‘This project will provide the infrastructure required to strengthen the reliability and continuity of aviation fuel supplies to Bandaranaike International Airport, Karunatilaka said.

The contract has been awarded to China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering Company Limited, following an international competitive procurement process in which three bids were received.

The project will see a new aviation fuel storage tank complex constructed at Muthurajawela, together with the associated infrastructure required for handling and transferring aviation fuel.

Business

CSE activity up, turnover weak at Rs. 1.4 billion

Published

2 hours ago

2026/10/2

Thilina Walpola

By Hiran H Senewiratne

Trading activity on the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) gathered pace yesterday as global fuel prices began to show signs of easing, according to market analysts.In this context, both indices moved upwards. All Share Price Index up by 67.97 points while S and P SL20 up by 8.30 points.

Turnover stood at Rs 1.4 billion with seven crossings. Those crossings were reported in Sampath Bank 1.7 million shares crossed to the tune of Rs 238 million and its share price traded at Rs 140, Access Engineering two million shares crossed to the tune of Rs 159 million and its share price traded at Rs 79.50, LOLC one million shares crossed to the tune of Rs 129 million and its share price traded at Rs 129, HNB 100,000 shares crossed to the tune of Rs 38.4 million and its share price traded at Rs 384, JKH 1.9 million shares crossed to the tune of Rs 35 million and its share price traded at Rs 18.60, Hayleys 100,000 shares crossed to the tune of Rs 22.50 million and its share price traded at Rs 225 and Richard Pieris 847,000 shares crossed to the tune of Rs 22 million and its share price traded at Rs 25.50.

In the retail market top seven companies that have mainly contributed to the turnover were Sampath Bank Rs 114 million (813,000 shares traded), JKH Rs 100 million (5.3 million shares traded) LB Finance Rs 49 million (325,000 shares traded), HNB Finance Rs 30 million (27 million shares traded), HNB Rs 27 million (70000 shares traded), NTB Rs 25 million (82000 shares traded ) and Lanka IOC Rs 21 million (666,000 shares traded). During the day 65 million shares volumes changed hands in 10433 transactions.

The Banking and manufacturing sector counters performed well. In the banking sector Sampath Bank let the market while manufacturing sector especially JKH also significantly performed well. With the fuel revision Land IOC also a significant stock at the floor.

Meanwhile, First Capital Treasuries said that Ramesh Schaffter resigned as a Non-Independent Non-Executive Director with effect from October 1, to facilitate the restructuring of the company’s board.

Yesterday the Central Bank announced the US Dollar rate as against rupee. The rupee was quoted flat at Rs 330.65/80 to the US dollar in the spot market , while bond yields dropped, dealers said.