February 2014 Holidays (3 Possible Long Weekends).

As part of our public service duty to help you get the most out of your vacation time, here’s a holiday calendar for February 2014.

The good news is that there is one real long weekend (Navam Poya, which happily corresponds to Valentines Day) and two sneaky long weekends (Independence Day and Maha Sivathri). There is no bad news, February is a really short month full of holidays. Enjoy it, because March is crap.

Long Weekends (1)

In the middle of the month, there’s a Poya long weekend starting on Friday the 14th. This is also Valentines Day, so you can take a romantic long weekend if you’re so inclined.

Sneaky Weekends (2)

If you take (next) Monday the 3rd off, Independence Day on Tuesday makes it a four day weekend. At the end of the month, Maha Sivathri is on a Thursday, another potential four day break.

Places To Be

Tangalle, Lagoon Paradise

Southern beaches are still in season around February and Galle and Unawatuna (and Mirissa and Tangalle) are sure to be happening and beautiful retreats. It’s usually a less murderously hot season for Jaffna.

Places Not To Be

Clay pot seller in Kegalle, on the main road

Unless you’re invited, it’s probably best to stay away from the official Independence Day celebrations in Kegalle and, by extension, the Kandy Road.

Places To Celebrate

Independence Square, where it all went down

Independence Square and Galle Face Green are the iconic spots from 66 years ago to celebrate our national day. A lot of street stalls will pop up with flags and fireworks if you want to celebrate at home. This is usually a very unhappy day for dogs.

The Nawam Perahera, 2012

For the Navam Poya, Nawam Mawatha (Gangaramaya Temple) is the place to see Colombo’s grandest Perahera. The days before, you can see elephants walking and pooping in traffic, which is also amusing. They block off the road for the evening.

Maha Sivathri is celebrated at many Hindu temples, Thiruketheeswaram in Mannar is known for this event and in Colombo, Kotahena and Wellawatte would be areas to go.

Where The Animals Are

Yala, Uda Walawe (migrating birds), Wilpattu, Horton Plains, Sinharaja, Wasgamuwa, Bundala.

For the full yearly, downloadable (iCal, Google Calendar) calendar, click here.

* note that Nawam Poya and Maha Sivathri are Public/Bank holidays (not mercantile), so private sector companies don’t have to give them off. The vast majority do.