The Bengali New Year was celebrated by the Fort MacMurray Bangladeshi community recently in Timberlea. Officially called Pohela Boishakh the event drew about 40 people from the local community. The celebration was held at the Syncrude Athletic Park in the multipurpose room, and it was sponsored by the Bangladeshi Society of Wood Buffalo. Visitors were treated to a number of short plays in a series. There was also dancing, and those who attended feasted on traditional Bangladeshi foods which included pitha and kalo jaam. The Bangali New Year occurred on April 14 and it is a holiday that holds great cultural significance. The celebration is a symbol of leaving the past behind and moving forward. Sadat Ali Khan, the president of the Bangladeshi Society of Wood Buffalo, stated “The first message is, whatever things happen in the past, let’s learn from it and move forward to the future, hoping for peace and prosperity (and a) healthy and happy life.”

The Bengali New Year is a time of new beginnings for the Fort MacMurray Bangladeshi community. Ali Khan also commented “It’s really exciting, because you are far away from your country, but at the same time, once in a while, meet up with the people, share your joys and they share their life. In other words, they are integrating in the Canadian society by partly celebrating their own country’s events. Of course they enjoy it because they haven’t seen this type of colourful thing in their life. Few people can go to Bangladesh to enjoy that.”