The grand finale of the National Sports Festival will be worked off from the 22nd to 24th September at the Matara Kotawila Sports Complex with the track and field events set to take the center stage in Matara.
The biggest sporting event of the Island, the National Sports Festival features 29 sporting disciplines with finals of 23 sports already completed at the time of writing. Track and field events and finals of five major sports which include Volleyball, Boxing, Football and Body Building will be conducted in Matara during the weekend.
Having staged its last edition at the Jaffna Duriyappah Stadium for the first time in the history, the National Sports Festival travels to the southern province for the 5th time in its 43-year history. It will be the 3rd occasion that Matara will play host to the National Sports Festival having previously hosted the festival in 1979 and 2002.
Hon. Prime Minister Ranil Wickramasinghe is set to grace the opening ceremony on the 22nd as the Chief Guest while President, Hon. Maithripala Sirisena will be the Chief Guest of the closing ceremony on the 24th.
Over 700 Athletes in Track and Field
Track and field events which will be worked out over three days in Matara will take center stage in the final stage of the National Sports Festival with 700+ athletes being entered under the provinces.
Defending champions Western Province will field the largest contingent of 107 athletes with the hosts Southern Province fielding the second largest team which comprises of 90 athletes.
Provincial Athletic teams for Track and field events
| Province | Male Athelets | Female Athletes | Total |
| Central | 50 | 35 | 85 |
| Eastern | 45 | 33 | 78 |
| North Central | 46 | 35 | 81 |
| Northen | 40 | 35 | 75 |
| Wayamba | 49 | 26 | 75 |
| Sabaragamuwa | 47 | 37 | 84 |
| South | 46 | 44 | 90 |
| Uva | 45 | 35 | 80 |
| Western | 60 | 47 | 107 |
Event schedule released
The Event schedule for Athletics that span over the course of three days will commence with the Men’s 10,000m finals on the 22nd with the 4X400m relay finals which attract a large spectator interest schedule to be the final event on the 24th.
Track and Field – Event Schedule 
