Bengali shindig at CDU

FOR the first time ever, the public is being invited to Charles Darwin University to help celebrate the Bengali New Year.

Run by the Bangladeshi Student Association, today’s festival includes food stalls and performances aimed at showing people a little bit of Bengali culture.

Secretary of the group Asiful Iman said the festival has been running for three years.

“Every year we are going one step further and making it bigger,” he said.

“This year we’re expecting between 500 and 600 people.”

Pohela Boishakh, or the Bengali New Year, was celebrated on April 14 this year, in accordance with the Bengali calendar, which is used by Bangladesh, the Indian states of West Bengal and Tripura, and by minority Bengali communities in other Indian states.

This system was introduced by the Mughal Emperor Akbar to make the agricultural taxing process easier. Farmers and business would be able to pay taxes at the end of the harvest season, rather than the start.

“We are trying to bring back the culture with the traditional food that we serve, and the performances, the music and dance,” Mr Iman said.

The festival runs from 5pm-10pm at the Amphitheatre at CDU’s Casuarina campus (orange 7).