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 30^th and 31^st   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.

In addition, SOLA will host a creative market on Friday 30th, featuring exclusively Sri Lankan businesses and creatives working within sustainability, circular economy principles, and conscious production. Vendors won’t be charged a fee for participation, with The Doctor’s House providing the full setup. Miranda said “We see this market as a meaningful opportunity to support Sri Lanka’s creative community - creating space for local makers, designers, and artists to connect, collaborate, and present their work to the international audience visiting SOLA Festival.”

With its roots firmly planted in community, a commitment to long-term impact, and a growing international audience, SOLA festival continues to build a new model for festivals in Sri Lanka – one grounded in creativity, care and conscious celebration. Tickets for SOLA are available on www.solafestival.org or via the link in their Instagram bio @sola.festivals.