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Away from Christmas events and sales, it was business as usual for traders
View(s):The Christmas season has just concluded with a range of festivals and commercial activities including sales. ‘Colombo Christmas Street’, the three-day event held for the second consecutive year from December 21 onwards, at Green Path and organised by the Sri Lanka Retailer’s Association in collaboration with the Tourism Development and Christian Religious Affairs Ministry and the Sri Lanka Apparel Brands Association, saw crowds flocking to the area.
Food fairs were part of the Christmas cheer around the city. Pic by Sameera Weerasekera
The seasonal fair had more than 60 trade stalls selling a variety of gift items, local crafts, electronic items and hampers among others.
On a foody line, the Sri Lanka Tourism Promotion Bureau (SLTPB) together with other institutions coming under the Tourism Ministry also organised, “Tourism fest with the spirit of Christmas” at the Arcade Independence Square. In addition to food stalls, there were choirs performing Christmas carols and other seasonal songs, entertainments for children, and fireworks displays. The fair and carnival at Galle Face will continue into the new year.
Meanwhile, in contrast to the festive stalls that dotted the city and sales, out on the streets it was business as usual for traders, said Colombo Traders’ Association president K. Palaniyandi. “Although some traders said their sales had slumped this year, I don’t see a notable decline in sales although most did not have special price reductions for the season,” he said.
But, some of the traders complained that business was less compared to the past two years. Mithra Gunawardena, the manager of a supermarket outlet in Colombo said business was less in the last two days prior to Christmas. “In previous years ‘on Christmas eve the outlet is full of customers throughout the day, but this time this was not the case. We had a crowd shortly before noon and thereafter the numbers reduced,” he said.
This festive season like all other years, brought with it its share of accidents, with the Traffic Police Headquarters reporting 60 road accident-related deaths from December 19 to 25.