About Us
Since first launching in 2007, The Galle Literary Festival has become one of the most anticipated literary events in south Asia.
The festival encompasses all forms of creative art – showcasing the works of writers and poets, but also giving space to painters, dancers, chefs, architects, photo enthusiasts and cinematographers.
Objectives
- Create awareness of the depth and diversity of Sri Lankan writing in English
- Promote South Sri Lanka as a key tourist destination
- Drive creativity and inspire literary excellence
How?
Galle Festivals is a Company Limited by Guarantee; a public company which is formed to benefit the community. We hold an annual festival made up of all sorts of events curated to Educate, Entertain and Inspire.
In Conversation with...
Panel Discussions
Guided Tours
Music & Theatre
Mayhem Past Midnight
Literary Dinners
Sunset Cruises
GLF Hub
Cooking Demo’s
Workshops
Art Trail
“The World's No. 1
Literary Festival”
Harper’s Bazaar
Objectives
Create awareness of the depth and diversity of Sri Lankan writing in English
The last 5 years saw Sri Lankan authors hitting the international stage in a big way; from Booker Prize to Thriller Awards to ST Bestsellers. The Festival provides a platform to nurture the writing culture in Sri Lanka and offered opportunity for new writers to be recognised as alongside internationally acclaimed names.
Promote South Sri Lanka as a key tourist destination
Conde Nast Traveller, The Times UK, South China Morning Post and the The Hindustan Times, among many other publications, have covered the Festival and its location extensively and extremely favourably. The Festival increased its reach globally and each year more Festival enthusiasts seek to attend the event.
Drive creativity and inspire literary excellence
The Festival is a forum where some of the literary world’s most celebrated writers share ideas, participate in healthy debate and exchange experiences with a unique intimacy in format that allows its audiences inspiring encounters with writers.
Demographic
Primary
- Cultural Tourists
- 30 – 65 Years
- Educated, high income professionals who value cultural experiences.
This group includes both local and international people that travel for cultural events and hold interest in exploring cultural heritage of Galle
Secondary
- Students & Educators
- Local & International
- Dreamers, achievers and adventurers, currently in school or university with a passion for books and blog
They represent the future of Sri Lanka and the people who teach them
Media
- Journalists
- Local & International
International travel & literary media send news stories to the rest of the world gaining Sri Lanka positive publicity. Local media play an important role in taking the Festival to a wide local audience
Authors
- Local & International
This group acts in an ambassadorial role, carrying with them their experiences of the Festival, Galle and Sri Lanka. The incredible line-up year on year at GLF is due to recommendation and word of mouth by past and new authors
2025 topics of interest…
A few early iterations of topics we are looking to explore next year
Books in Translation
Female Writers
Empire & Impact
Travels in Sri Lanka
International Cricket
Individual &
Collective Identities
Historical Fiction
Migration
Nature Writing
Biography & Memoir
Travels in Sri Lanka
Economics
International Cricket
Individual & Collective
Identities
Crime Writing
Museum Collections
Indian & Pacific Ocean Art
Wildlife Conservation
Should one of these resound with your brand, its worth considering session sponsorship.
Contact us for more info info@galleliteraryfestival.com
Outreach
Every year our programme includes several outreach channels.
In the past this has included:
Childrens outreach – programme to engage over 100 children annually from Galle based government primary schools for 1-2 days of activities with authors, playwrights and teachers around creative writing
North South University Programme – providing transport and accommodation for students from universities across the country, from Jaffna to Matara to improve accessibility to the festival for youth
Student Discounts – reduced rates for students to sessions and panels
Outreach sessions – each year we aim for a healthy portion of out programme to be curated to address current social, environmental and economic issues in Sri Lanka
If you are interested in supporting our outreach offering, please contact info@galleliteraryfestival.com