North American Bengali Conference

North American Bengali Conference (NABC) নর্থ আমেরিকান বঙ্গ সম্মেলন
Status	Active
Genre	Cultural festival
Country	United States and Canada
Inaugurated	1981 (1981)
Most recent	2024 (2024)
Attendance	4000–12,000
Website	cabusa.org

The North American Bengali Conference (NABC) is an annual Indian Bengali culture (predominantly Bengali Hindu 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 (CAB) 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, India and Bangladesh. ^[1] Audiences are primarily Bengali Americans, Indian American, Bangladeshi American, Indian Canadian and Bangladeshi 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]}

Venues

• 1981: New York City, New York ^{[1] [5]} organized by the Cultural Association of Bengal
• 1982: New York City ^{[1] [5]} organized by the Cultural Association of Bengal
• 1983: New York City ^{[1] [5]} organized by the Cultural Association of Bengal
• 1984: Boston, Massachusetts ^{[1] [5]} organized by Prabasi of New England
• 1985: Baltimore, Maryland ^{[1] [5]} organized by Prantik of Baltimore
• 1986: Cleveland, Ohio ^{[1] [5]} organized by Bengali Cultural Society, Cleveland Ohio
• 1987: San Francisco/San Jose, Bay Area Auditorium at the California School for the Deaf, Fremont, California ^{[1] [6] [7] [5]} organized by Bay Area Prabasi
• 1988: Atlantic City, New Jersey, Jim Whelan Boardwalk Hall ^{[1] [8]} organized by Kallol NJ
• 1989: New York City ^{[1] [5]} organized by the Cultural Association of Bengal
• 1990: Maryland, University of Maryland ^{[1] [9] [5]} organized by Sanskriti DC
• 1991: Boston area, Lowell, Massachusetts ^[5] organized by Prabasi Of New England
• 1992: Toronto, Ontario, Canada ^{[1] [10] [5]} organized by PBCA Toronto
• 1993: Los Angeles, California, California State University, Fullerton ^{[1] [11] [12] [5]} organized by Dakshini Los Angeles
• 1994: Chicago, Illinois, Hyatt Regency O'Hare ^{[1] [13] [5]} organized by the Bengali Association of Greater Chicago (BAGC)
• 1995: New York Metro Area, White Plains, New York ^{[1] [14] [15] [5]} organized by the Cultural Association of Bengal
• 1996: Houston, Texas, Adam's Mark Hotel ^{[1] [16] [17] [5]} organized by the Tagore Society of Houston
• 1997: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Valley Forge Convention Center, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania ^{[1] [18] [19]} organized by Pragati Philadelphia
• 1998: Toronto, Regal Constellation ^{[1] [20] [5]} organized by PBCA Toronto
• 1999: San Francisco Bay Area, Santa Clara Convention Center, Santa Clara, California ^{[1] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25]} organized by Bay Area Prabasi
• 2000: Atlantic City, New Jersey, Atlantic City Convention Center and Kolkata, India ^{[1] [8] [26] [5]} organized by Kallol NJ and others
• 2001: Boston, Paul Tsongas Arena Lowell MA ^[5] organized by Prabasi of New England
• 2002: Atlanta, Georgia World Congress Center ^{[1] [27] [5]} organized by the South Eastern Bengali Association
• 2003: Long Beach, CA, Long Beach Convention Center ^{[28] [29] [5]} organized by the Dakshini Bengali Association of California
• 2004: Baltimore, Baltimore Convention Center ^{[1] [30] [5]} organized by Sanskriti DC
• 2005: New York City, Madison Square Garden ^{[31] [5]} organized by the Cultural Association of Bengal
• 2006: Houston, George R. Brown Convention Center ^{[1] [32] [33] [5]} organized by the Tagore Society of Houston
• 2007: Detroit, Cobo Hall ^{[1] [34] [5]} organized by the Bengali Association of Greater Michigan
• 2008: Toronto, Metro Toronto Convention Centre ^{[1] [35] [36] [5]} organized by PBCA Toronto
• 2009: San Jose, McEnery Convention Center ^{[1] [37] [38] [39] [40] [41] [5]} organized by Bay Area Prabasi
• 2010: Atlantic City, Atlantic City Convention Center ^{[1] [42] [5]} organized by Kallol of NJ
• 2011: Baltimore, Baltimore Convention Center ^{[1] [43] [44] [45] [46] [47] [5]} organized by Sanskriti DC
• 2012: Las Vegas, Paris Las Vegas ^{[48] [49] [5]} organized by the Cultural Association of Bengal
• 2013: Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Metro Toronto Convention Centre ^{[1] [50] [51] [52] [5]} organized by PBCA Toronto
• 2014: Orlando, Florida, USA, The Peabody Orlando ^{[1] [53] [54] [5]} organized by the Bengali Society of Florida
• 2015: Houston, Texas, USA, George R. Brown Convention Center ^{[1] [54] [55] [56] [57] [5]} organized by the Tagore Society of Houston
• 2016: New York City, Madison Square Garden ^{[1] [58] [5]} organized by the Cultural Association of Bengal
• 2017: San Francisco, Santa Clara Convention Center ^{[59] [5]} organized by Bay Area Prabasi
• 2018: Atlantic City, Atlantic City Convention Center ^{[60] [5]} organized by Ananda Mandir NJ
• 2019: Baltimore, Baltimore Convention Center ^[5] 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 ^[61]
• 2022: Las Vegas Nevada, Planet Hollywood Casino and Resort and Zappos Theater organized by the Cultural Association of Bengal ^[62]
• 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)

1. Ananda Mandir, NJ
2. GSCA NJ
3. Kallol NJ
4. BCAA
5. BASC
6. Dakshini Los Angeles
7. Prabasi Bay Area
8. Uttoron Seattle
9. Pragati Philadelphia
10. Prabasi of New England
11. KPC Bengali Hall of Fame
12. BSF Florida
13. Toronto Kalibari
14. Krishti Edmonton
15. Prabasi Bengali Cultural Association (PBCA), Toronto
16. Bengali Association of Greater Chicago (BAGC)
17. ICC Garden State
18. ECDPA NY
19. Vedanta Society NY
20. Tagore Society of Houston
21. RDM NJ
22. Bharatiya Kala Kendra NJ
23. Paschami Bay Area
24. Sanskriti Washington DC
25. Prantik of Baltimore
26. Sanskriti Bay Area
27. Saikat San Diego
28. Bengali Association of Nevada
29. Bengali Association of Minnesota
30. Valley Bengali Community LA
31. Ankur Sacramento
32. Bengali Community of Sacramento
33. Anandahwini NY
34. BADV Newark
35. Dhroopad INC Washington DC
36. GSPC, Jersey City
37. BCS, South Jersey
38. NASKA Connecticut
39. Lipilekha NJ
40. New York Kali Mandir
41. Chicago Kali Bari
42. Sreeshti NJ
43. Mrittrika NJ
44. Udaan Delaware
45. Ghorroa Philadelphia
46. Washington Kali Temple

See also

• Bengali Americans
• Bengali language
• Bengali people
• World Sylhet Convention

References

1. রায়, প্রবীর (July 1, 2016). আমেরিকায় বঙ্গ সম্মেলনের সেকাল একাল. Anandabajar Patrika (in Bengali).
2. "Shakib Khan appointed Brand Ambassador of NABC". The New Nation. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
3. "Shakib becomes Bangladesh brand ambassador at Banga Sammelan". Bangladesh Post. Retrieved 2023-06-21.
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5. "About NABC". Cultural Association of Bengal. Retrieved 2018-06-11.
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44. Haniffa, Aziz (2011-07-22). "Bengalis bond in Baltimore". India Abroad. pp. A39–A40.
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55. Shah, Manu (2015-07-24). "When Bengal came to Houston". p. A23.
56. "Celebration of Bengali Culture and Tradition at a Convention in Houston". NDTV.com. July 19, 2015. Retrieved 2017-09-29.
57. "Banga Sammelan, NABC 2015, Brought Fun, Passion to the Heart of Texas". Indo American News. July 16, 2015. Retrieved 2017-09-29.
58. "Where Shakespeare meets Birju Maharaj". India Abroad. 2016-08-26. p. A40.
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61. কর, ড. কোহিনূর. "বঙ্গ সম্মেলনঃ যেন এক মহোৎসব - NABC Global Conference 2021, Sangbad Bichitra, August 2021, pp. 14-17" (PDF).
62. কর, ড. কোহিনূর. "বঙ্গ সম্মেলন ২০২২-এর উদ্বোধনী..., Sangbad Bichitra, June 2022, pp. 2, 4" (PDF).

External links

• 2024 conference website
• Ananda Mandir  –partner organization in New Jersey
• Bengali Association of Greater Chicago  –partner organization in Illinois
• Prabasi of New England  –partner organization in Massachusetts
• Tagore Society of Houston  –partner organization in Texas