| Last: | The North American Bengali Conference (NABC) is an annual Bengali culture conference held in the United States and Canada, typically around the weekend of July 4. It was established in 1981 by the Cultural Association of Bengal in New York, and is hosted by a different organization every year.[1] The conference includes performances, readings, discussion, networking, and class reunions.
Performers are often from the United States, Canada, Bangladesh, and India. Audiences are primarily Bangladeshi American, Indian American, Bangladeshi Canadian and Indian Canadian. In 2022, Bangladeshi actor-producer Shakib Khan was appointed as the Bangladesh Outreach Brand Ambassador of NABC, the first and only brand ambassador in the 42-year history of the conference.[2] [3] [4]
2022 Banga Sammelan Chaos
The 42nd NABC which was originally scheduled to be held in 2020 but was canceled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic which was to be held at Westgate Las Vegas. Thus the conference which had originally touted big names like Sonu Nigam, Jeet Ganguli and Padmashree Hariharan was postponed and rescheduled at PLANET HOLLYWOOD RESORT AND CASINO for the weekend of 1st-3rd July. Many of people who registered in 2020 also booked and secured rooms at the previous resort through NABC for the original convention dates. Since that money is handled by CAB and then divided out to the hotel there was virtually no way for convention goers to recoup money even with hotel staff confused saying they never received money from CAB the event goers were left with no way to recoup funds. In 2022 the headliners of the convention were said to have been Sunidhi Chauhan, Amit Kumar, and Sudhesh Bhosle along with many artists from Bangladesh including Jaya Ahsan Abanti Sithi Amina and James Nagar Baul. Bangladesh actor Shakib Khan should have also been the brand ambassador for the conference and was expected to attend. Many other artists from Bengal like Saheb Chatterjee, Madhuraa Bhattacharya, Malabika Sen, and Racharna Bhattacharya were also contracted to appear. On the conference weekend goers were notified that all these artists and more were not to attend citing Visa issues and payment discrepancies. As a last minute saving grace Salim and Sulaiman were booked at a much cheaper rate even when many NABC attendees shelled out over $400 for convention tickets alone to see SUNIDHI CHAUHAN. Many programs were cut or started hours behind schedule or changed halls completely. There we only about 1800 attendees on record this year given the current pandemic situation. Only after the conference did we hear that IMAN CHAKRABARTY AND POUSHALI BANERJEE along with many others from BENGAL including the Sunday Night performer SUNIDHI CHAUHAN were not paid per their written contracts. Even as far as their visa applications were not filed. After the conference CEASARS ENTERTAINMENT the owner of Planet Hollywood as well as many of NABC 2022's affiliate hotels sued Cultural Association of Bengal for not paying event fees and resort fees for an undisclosed amount.
Disorder at the 2023 conference
The 2023 North American Bengali Conference was held at Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City and various events across the city were expected to take place, including a torch procession from Albany Avenue/Bader Field. The conference was expected to generate from around $1 million to $8 million in revenue.[5] Many of the flagship singers and producers that were expected to appear at the conference such as Arijit Singh and Javed Ali did not appear at the conference, which sparked outrage amongst the conference goers. Other small events, such as the opening ceremony, which was supposed to contain a student choir and a talent show, were postponed and cancelled, respectively. Sports were also expected to be held at the event, but they were cut out after the conference failed to bring singers and caused fury. The KPC Hall of Fame President Parthasarathi Mukhopadhyay, who was the chief planner of the event, was blamed by many acclaimed performers and other event conveners such as Jayati Chakraborty, sitarist Sahana Chatterjee and Raghab Chatterjee. [6] The performers at the lineup also said they were denied water, food, and many other performers on the lineup could not stay any longer and left.
After the issues in 2023, the organization began restructuring and pledged to hold the 2024 and 2025 NABCs in a more orderly fashion.
Venues
- 1981: New York City, New York[7] organized by the Cultural Association of Bengal
- 1982: New York City organized by the Cultural Association of Bengal
- 1983: New York City organized by the Cultural Association of Bengal
- 1984: Boston, Massachusetts organized by Prabasi of New England
- 1985: Baltimore, Maryland organized by Prantik of Baltimore
- 1986: Cleveland, Ohio organized by Bengali Cultural Society, Cleveland Ohio
- 1987: San Francisco/San Jose, Bay Area Auditorium at the California School for the Deaf, Fremont, California[8] [9] organized by Bay Area Prabasi
- 1988: Atlantic City, New Jersey, Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall[10] organized by Kallol NJ
- 1989: New York City organized by the Cultural Association of Bengal
- 1990: Maryland, University of Maryland[11] organized by Sanskriti DC
- 1991: Boston area, Lowell, Massachusetts organized by Prabasi Of New England
- 1992: Toronto, Ontario, Canada[12] organized by PBCA Toronto
- 1993: Los Angeles, California, California State University, Fullerton[13] [14] organized by Dakshini Los Angeles
- 1994: Chicago, Illinois, Hyatt Regency O'Hare[15] organized by the Bengali Association of Greater Chicago (BAGC)
- 1995: New York Metro Area, White Plains, New York[16] [17] organized by the Cultural Association of Bengal
- 1996: Houston, Texas, Adam's Mark Hotel[18] [19] organized by the Tagore Society of Houston
- 1997: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Valley Forge Convention Center, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania[20] [21] organized by Pragati Philadelphia
- 1998: Toronto, Regal Constellation[22] organized by PBCA Toronto
- 1999: San Francisco Bay Area, Santa Clara Convention Center, Santa Clara, California[23] [24] [25] [26] [27] organized by Bay Area Prabasi
- 2000: Atlantic City, New Jersey, Atlantic City Convention Center and Kolkata, India[28] organized by Kallol NJ and others
- 2001: Boston, Paul Tsongas Arena Lowell MA organized by Prabasi of New England
- 2002: Atlanta, Georgia World Congress Center[29] organized by the South Eastern Bengali Association
- 2003: Long Beach, CA, Long Beach Convention Center[30] [31] organized by the Dakshini Bengali Association of California
- 2004: Baltimore, Baltimore Convention Center[32] organized by Sanskriti DC
- 2005: New York City, Madison Square Garden[33] organized by the Cultural Association of Bengal
- 2006: Houston, George R. Brown Convention Center[34] [35] organized by the Tagore Society of Houston
- 2007: Detroit, Cobo Hall[36] organized by the Bengali Association of Greater Michigan
- 2008: Toronto, Metro Toronto Convention Centre[37] [38] organized by PBCA Toronto
- 2009: San Jose, McEnery Convention Center[39] [40] [41] [42] [43] organized by Bay Area Prabasi
- 2010: Atlantic City, Atlantic City Convention Center[44] organized by Kallol of NJ
- 2011: Baltimore, Baltimore Convention Center[45] [46] [47] [48] [49] organized by Sanskriti DC
- 2012: Las Vegas, Paris Las Vegas[50] [51] organized by the Cultural Association of Bengal
- 2013: Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Metro Toronto Convention Centre[52] [53] [54] organized by PBCA Toronto
- 2014: Orlando, Florida, USA, The Peabody Orlando[55] [56] organized by the Bengali Society of Florida
- 2015: Houston, Texas, USA, George R. Brown Convention Center[57] [58] [59] organized by the Tagore Society of Houston
- 2016: New York City, Madison Square Garden[60] organized by the Cultural Association of Bengal
- 2017: San Francisco, Santa Clara Convention Center[61] organized by Bay Area Prabasi
- 2018: Atlantic City, Atlantic City Convention Center[62] organized by Ananda Mandir NJ
- 2019: Baltimore, Baltimore Convention Center organized by Sanskriti DC
- 2020: In person NABC canceled due to COVID-19. Online philanthropic initiative HOPE 2020 organized by the Cultural Association of Bengal
- 2021: In person Banga Sammelan canceled, online NABC named NABC GLOBAL was organized by the Cultural Association of Bengal on a virtual reality platform[63]
- 2022: Las Vegas Nevada, Planet Hollywood Casino and Resort and Zappos Theater organized by the Cultural Association of Bengal[64]
- 2023: Atlantic City, Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall and Seaview golf club organized by KPC Bengali Hall of Fame Edison NJ
- 2024: Chicago Illinois, Renaissance Schaumburg Convention Center organized by the Bengali Association of Greater Chicago
- 2025: Toronto Canada, Metro Toronto Convention Centre organized by Toronto Kalibari
- 2026: TBD
NABC hosting Partner organizations (CAB Sister organizations)
- Ananda Mandir, NJ
- GSCA NJ
- Kallol NJ
- BCAA
- BASC
- Dakshini Los Angeles
- Prabasi Bay Area
- Uttoron Seattle
- Pragati Philadelphia
- Prabasi of New England
- KPC Bengali Hall of Fame
- BSF Florida
- Toronto Kalibari
- Krishti Edmonton
- Prabasi Bengali Cultural Association (PBCA), Toronto
- Bengali Association of Greater Chicago (BAGC)
- ICC Garden State
- ECDPA NY
- Vedanta Society NY
- Tagore Society of Houston
- RDM NJ
- Bharatiya Kala Kendra NJ
- Paschami Bay Area
- Sanskriti Washington DC
- Prantik of Baltimore
- Sanskriti Bay Area
- Saikat San Diego
- Bengali Association of Nevada
- Bengali Association of Minnesota
- Valley Bengali Community LA
- Ankur Sacramento
- Bengali Community of Sacramento
- Anandahwini NY
- BADV Newark
- Dhroopad INC Washington DC
- GSPC, Jersey City
- BCS, South Jersey
- NASKA Connecticut
- Lipilekha NJ
- New York Kali Mandir
- Chicago Kali Bari
- Sreeshti NJ
- Mrittrika NJ
- Udaan Delaware
- Ghorroa Philadelphia
- Washington Kali Temple
See also
External links
]
|
