-Momo Quazi
The “Taste of Bangladesh” event had its very first appearance in the city of Toronto and it was an immediate success. The festival was held on Monday, August 5th, 2019, in between Shibley St and Victoria Park ave – on Danforth Ave. The event started at 1:00 pm it was open to all and with no entry fees. The stage was built near the Victoria-Danforth intersection. There was an estimated 25,000 people showed up in this huge gathering despite of the hot summer.
Local businessmen came with their various kinds of goods like dresses, readymade garments, handicrafts, toys, house material and many more. As the event was about the taste, there were food from ice cream, jerky, chicken, biryani, choypoti, fuska, jilapi. Jhalmuri etc. Everything gave the people a real sense of Bangladeshi fair.
The main attraction of the fair was its highly successful cultural event. James, the most popular band music artist has performed his songs and the audience loved them. Apart from James, songs were performed by renowned artists Rizia Parveen and Tapan Chowdhury. Our own Torontonian artists have also entertained with their highest talent. Nafiya Urmi, Mukta Sarowar, Sukanya Nrittangon, Nrittokola Kendra, Momo Quazi, Kamran Karim, Raisa, Maisa from Prominent Prottoy Canada presented great performances.
The program was anchored by the popular presenters Dilara Nahar Babu, Farhana Ahmed, Asma Haque, Faiza Islam, Raidah Firoz and Tanbir Kohinoor.
Speakers at the event were Nathaniel Erskine-Smith, Duncan Tolly, MP Bill Blair, MPP Dolly Begum and the City Councilor Gary Crawford.
It was the largest Bengali event on Canadian soil. Although there were some slight mishaps in some places, such as mistakes in the national anthem, parking shortages, stage positions, chair shortages, garbage mismanagement and above all the sound system had some complaints, but for the first time, I think these aspects contribute to the betterment of the upcoming events. Those who have worked hard to make the event a successful are Syed Shamsul Alam, Shakti Deb, Farida Haque,Russell Rahman and Abul Azad. Among the sponsors Zamal Hossin, Monir Islam, Ashabuddin Asad, Omar Hasan Al Zahid was the main contributors. Also the volunteers have done an amazing job.
