Swim Week Colombo starts off with a burst of flavour 

Under the stars strung above the cobbled path at Park Street Mews, the 6th edition of Colombo Swim Week and Food Festival kicked off recently. 

Tera Jayewardene 

Under the stars strung above the cobbled path at Park Street Mews, the 6th edition of Colombo Swim Week and Food Festival kicked off recently.

CFW Swim Week Colombo presented by OLU Tropical Water brings together the four creative industries of Art, Fashion, Food and Music to host a week-long creative festival titled “Celebrate Colombo” presented by So Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka Tourism and Promotion Bureau (SLTPB).

“Food and music are an integral part of the celebration as it shows the creativity of a city through an aspect which is attractive to international travellers, and we are so excited that the food and music industries in Sri Lanka have come together to be part of Celebrate Colombo. We now welcome and encourage the residents of Colombo and Sri Lankans everywhere to enjoy to these festivities as we welcome the world to celebrate with us,” says  Ajai Vir Singh, Founder and Managing Director of Colombo Fashion Week about Celebrate Colombo. 

Several leading restaurants and hotels in Colombo will be proving special limited edition menus in participation with the Celebrate Colombo Food Festival. The Food Festival restaurant partners are Park Street Mews, Coca-Cola Sri Lanka, Turkish Airlines, Hilton Colombo, Shangri-La Colombo, Galle Face Hotel, Taj Samudra and Movenpick Hotel. 

This year, a Food Passport has been introduced, where attendees can collect their food passports from each of the participating restaurants and hotels and receive a stamp on their passports after dining in. They are then entered into a raffle draw at the end of the week and will stand a chance to win a return ticket to Europe courtesy of Turkish Airlines.

Attendees were treated to all sorts of interesting food by the different restaurants at Park Street Mews. From exciting selection of tuna maki rolls and cucumber maki from Japanese restaurant Kuuraku, to the gooey chocolate brownies served by Butter Boutique, Celebrate Colombo could not have had a better start. 

Celebrate Colombo will also see a variety of curated Music Events which will add to the celebration and pockets of live music events will dot the city during the week's festivities. Some of the week’s performances include Funky Loops, an evening of Salsa dancing at King of the Mambo, solo performances by Q, Amarsha Tissera, Lasith Fernando and a special curation at Botanik with DJ Clifford Issac in collaboration with vocalists Yohani, Chamathka and Isuri.

“After the attacks, I wanted to give a fitting reply to disruptive forces through creativity. My team and I started working on showcasing Colombo and Sri Lanka in a different light, and Celebrate Colombo was born in its current form. Celebrate Colombo is a progressive platform to showcase the creative industries of Sri Lanka from a tourism perspective and positioning the city of Colombo as a vibrant and creative city,” Ajai adds about the purpose of Celebrate Colombo and what it aims to do. 

“As Sri Lanka Tourism embarks on an optimistic journey not just to recover from the setback but to exponentially grow the industry, I have no doubt that Celebrate Colombo will help us regain the confidence of global travellers in a compelling way” adds Kishu Gomes, Chairman of Sri Lanka Tourism and Promotion Bureau.

With a combination of food, film, music and fashion, Celebrate Colombo aims to reignite a spark in Sri Lankan tourism.

(Pix by Ishanka Sunimal)