Sri Lankan Curry Food Festival
Sri Lanka Day is perhaps the only day of the year people in Los Angeles are able to have a taste of Sri Lankan food in a fun and festive environment, which is cooked live in the most exciting of ways. Thousands of families living in Santa Monica have fallen in love with the food offered at Sri Lanka Day since the first Sri Lankan Day in 2006 and now people from San Francisco and even Canada make this their annual pilgrimage to quench their appetite for Sri Lankan food.
The favorite Sri Lankan foods available are Hoppers-crispy pancake type item made with many a twirl. The edges are crispy and the middle is soft. Usually eaten with meat or vegetarian curry. Rice and curry-made Sri Lankan style. Kottu Roti-similar to a mongolian barbecue-made with eggs, meat and vegetables-a treat to watch the cooking and taste 
good! String hoppers-soft stringy type item accompanied by curry. Pol rotti-bread made of flour and coconut-served with spicy onions or curry. Sri Lankan savory short eats-that’s the name for Sri Lankan snacks similar to Tapas and Empanadas-once you start with these you can’t stop! No Sri Lankan food festival would be complete without Sri Lankan Sweets-Colorful and sweet.
Sri Lanka Day Parade
At 4 P.M the Sri Lanka Day parade will take place with Sri Lankan dancers, drummers, masked performers, flag bearers and a theatre elephant to pay honor to an ancient parade that occurs annually in Sri Lanka.
The Sri Lanka Day Parade is the most important event of Sri Lanka Day because of its ancient religious and cultural significance to Sri Lankans. The Sri Lanka Day Parade pays homage to the annual “Esala Perahera†held in the city of K
andy in Sri Lanka in which hundreds of dancers, drummers, flag bearers, masked performers and elephants adorned with beautiful garments parade through the city. All performers and elephants in the “Esala Perahera†are pledged from various Hindu kovils, Buddhist temples and individuals who volunteer their time and resources as a sacred duty.
The religious importance of the “Esala Perahera†is that it is dedicated to the sacred tooth relic belonging to the Buddha. The sacred tooth relic is kept in custody of the “Temple of the Tooth†in the city of Kandy on behalf of the ruler of Sri Lanka and the custody of the tooth ensures the divine right to rule the land. The “Esala Perahera†is the only occasion the sacred tooth relic is taken out of the temple and it is carried in a casket on top of an elephant.
Sri Lanka Foundation is proud that we have been able to organize the Sri Lanka Day Parade with full support of the Sri Lankan community in Southern California and are able to share our rich heritage in America.
Non-stop Entertainment
A stage will host Sri Lankan and American musicians and dancers that will keep the audience entertained from 10 AM-10 PM. You will see the traditional Sri Lankan “Kandyan†dancers and drummers, Bharatha Natyam dancers and other Sri Lankan folk theater performances throughout the day. These traditional Sri Lankan performers are a rare treat in Southern California and usually attracts many dance enthusiasts and shutterbugs to see their mesmerizing dancing.
There will be special dance performances highlighting the religious and cultural events important to the Sri Lankan community. This stage will come alive with the Sri Lankan American bands playing popular Sri Lankan and western music until 10 PM.
Information about Sri Lanka Day and Sri Lanka Foundation is available via the Internet at:
http://www.srilankafoundation.org/
http://www.slday.com/
About Sri Lanka Foundation
Sri Lanka Foundation is a 501 C (3) non-profit organization formed in June 2003 by Walter Jayasinghe, M.D., a well-known Sri Lankan-American physician in Los Angeles. With its head office in Los Angeles, California, the main focus of Sri Lanka Foundation is to promote Sri Lankan culture in the United States and globally.
For more information, contact Shirani at (213)483-0126.
