The celebration is set to commence tomorrow (04) with the presence of the President and the Prime Minister at the Independence Square premises, Colombo.

Only a limited number of guests and dignitaries will attend the celebration and it will be carried out adhering the Covid-19 guidelines. Defence Secretary Major General Kamal
Gunaratne (Retd.) assures the squadrons participating in the parade are low compared to the previous years and all the participants will be subjected to PCR tests or rapid antigen tests.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s address to the nation will be followed by the Armed Forces' parade in which the squadrons consist of 3153 army personnel, 821 of Navy personnel, 742 Air Force personnel, 510 Police personnel, and 457 Civil Security Force personnel. This will be followed by several cultural events with the participation of around
340 dancers and musicians.

Traffic restrictions are imposed on several roads today (03) and tomorrow (04) due to the rehearsals of Independence Day celebrations.

A Dhamma sermon in relation to Independence Day was held yesterday (02) at the Independence Square premises. Significant events including the commemoration of D.S
Senanayake, launching an island-wide tree planting program, and several religious programs will also be held on the same day.