Culture threads: Sri Lanka's influence in modern London

A Sri Lankan boutique food and music festival for South Asian Heritage month and a podcast too

We weren’t meant to live in the UK.

My parents’ original plan was for my mum to return to Sri Lanka with a master’s degree, and for Dad to work, save money, and return to Sri Lanka to establish their lives.

Then I was born. In London. I was given Tamil first and middle names, in preparation for my life in Sri Lanka. Mum never got her master’s degree; life in England was too expensive, so they worked and saved for that new life back in Colombo.

When we returned to Sri Lanka, the 1971 insurrection happened.

That was it—bags were packed, and we were on a flight back to the UK, to live a life in greater safety.

We weren’t refugees, but we left an island that, in just over a decade, would descend into civil war.

Since the early ’70s, London has been my home. My parents put down roots, brought us up, and we are now bringing up our kids here in London.

For my parents, the connection to their homeland was through food—making curries the way their parents did, seeking out recipes, visiting restaurants. Not the kind of restaurants we see today, with brutalist interiors, or knowing nods to Tropical Modernism, and experimental menus. These were family-run cafés with wipe-down Formica tables and vinyl sealed menus. They served dishes we wouldn’t normally make at home: string hoppers, idli, and of course, hoppers. These restaurants filled the hungry gap between Sri Lanka and their new home in London.

With recent events, South Asian Heritage Month feels even more important—it gives us, from the diaspora, a chance to raise our heads and celebrate who we are, regardless of how we got here.

And platforms like this help to break down barriers and bring unity.

My way is to invite you to come and take part, to experience Sri Lankan culture as it is today—a culture created by us who have grown up through the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s and beyond, and are now thriving in a modern London.

We’re celebrating a modern Sri Lankan culture through food, fashion, comedy, and music.

Please come and join us at the Sri Lankan Culture Collective’s boutique food and music festival on 22 September, Battersea Barge, London SW11 8PZ, starting at 12pm and running through to 10.30pm. Join us for the full day - or just part of it. I’d love to see you there.

The Food

We’ll be hosting a Sri Lankan hopper masterclass. Rosh Olivelle, the founder of Hop & Roll, will take participants through how to make the perfect hopper. Rosh will teach you how to prepare the hopper dough, ferment it, make the batter, and master the techniques to make the perfect crispy egg hopper, plain hopper, or milk hopper using a specialist hopper pan (which you get to keep). Once your hoppers are made, you will enjoy them with curries made from family recipes by Krish and Joey, co-founders of MUVs ALL DAY supper clubs.

Remember Thana? She was so moved by the plight of Sri Lankan farmers after the civil war and more recent tragedies that she set up her own artisan brand, Ruci Foods, Sri Lankan sambols, chutney, and pickle brand. She’ll be there, and you’ll be able to try her products too.

Fashion and talks

We have Mehala. She’s a fashion pioneer who runs incredible sari draping workshops. If you think you know how to drape a sari—a couple of wraps around your waist and thrown over your shoulder—Mehala will show you otherwise. You’ll come out of that workshop rocking a sari in a whole new style. We’ll also have a pop-up shop where you can browse beautiful items brought back from Sri Lanka.

Growing up, our immigrant parents impressed on us the importance of education, which would lead to a good professional career: doctor, lawyer, accountant. These careers are now being eschewed as younger Sri Lankans explore their creative leanings. We’ll have a Q&A with people from the burgeoning Sri Lankan creative community.

Comedy. More food, and music

And finally, the evening programme.

We’re kicking off with comedy. Taking to the main stage is Hari Kanth, finalist in the BBC Newcomer Comedy Awards, he will be joined by up and coming talent from the South Asian comedy community.

We’ve brought in Colombo Kitchen, who will provide the theatre and drama of cooking kotthu roti, Sri Lanka’s favourite street food, from their live flat-iron station.

And the music—what a lineup!

We have secured AP, a DJ who will throw down cutting-edge Tamil music, mixing it with hip hop and Afrobeats. He has played at the Sid Sriram pre-party, GV Prakash in Germany, and an exclusive DJ set for BBC Asian Network. We’ll also have live music from an array of phenomenal contemporary Sri Lankan artists showcasing music from across the diaspora, from the folky acoustic soul of Arjun Nala to the ethereal electronica of performer and musician Toulip Wonder and the multi-genre sounds of musician, producer, and singer Nush.

It will be incredible. And as a community, what a long way we have come!

Please join us. You can buy your ticket here. And bring your friends too!

Photo credit:

tara rudd

, Ranji Thangiah Photography

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I’m delighted to publish the first of three mini-podcasts as part of South Asian Heritage Month.

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The Sri Lankan Culture Collective is a platform to showcase modern Sri Lankan Culture, it’s supported by Hera Project X Sri Lanka and Wandsworth Council.