Sinhala and Tamil New Year (Aluth Avurudu)

Village and town fairs hold traditional contests such as kana mutti (breaking a clay pot while blindfolded), the pillow fight on a pole, tug-of-war, bun-eating races and climbing the greasy pole. Many fairs also crown an Avurudu Kumari, a New Year princess. Visitors are usually welcome to watch and often to join in.

The table is built around kiribath and a spread of sweets: kavum (oil cakes), kokis (crisp lattice biscuits), aasmi, athirasa, mung kavum, aluwa and sweet bananas. Families start frying them days ahead. Hotels and bakeries also sell them, so you can try them even without an invitation.

A few days after New Year, at a nakath time, an elder anoints family members' heads with herbal oil, a custom called hisa thel gama, for health in the year ahead. Temples hold public ceremonies too. It is one of the most personal rituals of the festival, so watch quietly unless invited to take part.

Expect firecrackers at the moment the new year begins and again when the hearth is lit, sometimes in the early hours depending on the nakath. Rabana drumming carries through neighbourhoods during the holidays. Light sleepers should pack earplugs.

April is Nuwara Eliya's busiest month, known locally as the season, with horse races, motor events, flower shows and crowds of holidaymakers escaping the lowland heat. It is lively but expensive, and things calm down after the third week of April.

The first business transaction of the year, ganu denu, is done at an auspicious time: elders give money wrapped in a betel leaf to younger relatives, and shopkeepers make a symbolic first sale. If a family gives you a betel leaf with a coin, accept it with your right hand.

Each year the astrological timetable names a lucky colour to wear for the new year rituals, and many families follow it. Visitors are not expected to wear it. If you are invited to a home, wearing that colour is a gesture hosts appreciate. The colour is announced with the nakath.

It follows the same solar moment, the sun entering Aries, that marks Songkran in Thailand, Pi Mai in Laos and several Indian new years. The customs differ: Sri Lanka has no water-throwing, and the focus is on family rituals at fixed auspicious times.

Tamil households take a herbal bath called maruthu neer, wear new clothes, visit the kovil and prepare a festive meal, often including a dish that mixes sweet, sour and bitter flavours for the ups and downs of the year. Kolam patterns are drawn at the entrance to welcome guests.

Most tourist hotels and resorts run normally and many hold their own Avurudu games and buffets for guests. Smaller family-run restaurants and guesthouses may close for a few days so staff can go home. Ask your accommodation in advance what will be open nearby.

Alcohol is generally on sale, although liquor shops close on the public holidays and when a poya day falls nearby. Hotel bars serve as normal. Drinking heavily in a family setting is frowned upon, so take your host's lead.