The Embassy of Sri Lanka in Washington DC together with the Sri Lankan community in the Greater Washington area, for the fifth consecutive year celebrated the Thai Pongal festival at a colorful ceremony at the Embassy on January 17, 2010. A cross-section of the Sri Lankan Tamil community resident in the greater Washington area and representatives of the Sri Lanka-related associations were present at the event. The celebrations were held in keeping with the tradition of the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Washington DC of celebrating the important religious festivals of Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim and Christian.

Sri Lanka participated at the ‘Vakantiebeurs’- 2010 in Utrecht in the Netherlands which was held from 12th to 17th of January 2010. The ‘Vakantiebeurs’, is an annual Trade and Consumer Travel Fair which is considered to be the largest event in the Benelux travel market, attracts thousands of tour operators, travel trade professionals, travel journalists, consumers and others in the tourism trade. While over 1600 exhibitors from 160 countries participate at this Fair, it attracted more than 20,000 professionals and 125,000 visitors.

The embassy staff together with their families and well wishers took part in an overnight pirith chanting ceremony on New Year’s Eve and invoked blessings on all for the New Year 2010.