February 22 presents an exciting opportunity for cultural immersion and education here at UW. The annual Bangladesh Night will take place on Saturday. It will feature a cultural show held in the Education Auditorium, followed by a ticketed dinner where guests will enjoy Bangladeshi cuisine. The event has become a staple of the University of Wyoming spring semester and has consistently provided the UW community with a valuable presentation of Bangladeshi culture.
The event is presented by the UW Bangladesh Students Association, which consists primarily of Bangladeshi graduate students pursuing Ph. D.s or Master’s degrees at UW. The organization’s main goal is to connect the community in Laramie and at the University of Wyoming with Bangladeshi culture. Rashid Ahmed, President of the Bangladesh Student Association in his fourth year studying here at UW discussed how Saturday’s event will work to connect Wyoming locals with Bangladeshi culture.
“Our main aim is to introduce the Bangladeshi culture here at the University of Wyoming, so doing the Bangladesh Night is part of showing our culture,” Ahmed said. “Before the dinner, there will be a program that will showcase our culture, our music and dance, that sort of thing.”
The evening will kick off with a cultural show that will begin at 4:00 p.m. and conclude at 6. It will take place in the Education Auditorium and will feature a variety of singing and dancing along with the screening of a short film. The cultural show is open to the public, and no ticket is required. The dinner showcasing Bangladeshi cuisine will be ticketed.
“We have traditional dances, kids singing some Bengali songs, and all sorts of music, acts, and dances,” Ahmed said. The performers have been working hard and began preparing for their performance in January.
“We put a lot of effort into that program, we do months of rehearsals because we want to put on a good show,” Ahmed said.
UW and Laramie community members are encouraged to come out and partake in the festivities, as it will give them an opportunity like no other to immerse themselves in and learn about Bangladeshi culture.
“They’ll have the chance to know what Bangladeshi student’s culture looks like,” Ahmed said. “We feel ourselves very connected to the University of Wyoming and we want to show the University our roots. We want to be more connected to the locals. It would be great if more locals came to our event and got introduced. It would be good for the community.”
