Bengali Cultural Association of Peterborough was founded in 1987 with few Bengali families living in Peterborough. The Association has been promoting Bengali culture in the UK since it’s inception in 1987 the Bengalis of Peterborough with the support from City Council and its local residents and friends have successfully staged Bengali programmes, classical programmes, dances and music by our younger generations. We organise musical events reflecting all aspects of traditional Bengali culture and its excellence, three to four times a year. The Association operate on a non-profit making basis. Using performing art as a medium, the group has raised awareness about cultural diversity and create opportunities for local communities to experience different aspects of ethnic Bengali, Indian and Bangladeshi culture firsthand. . Along side this involvement, the Group’s activities have also generated wide spread interest amongst Bengali speaking communities in other parts of the country. At present the Group’s activities are voluntarily run by people from all spectrums of life. The Group has gone from strength to strength over the past 21 years and found its niche in the ethnic culture scene of today’s Britain. The group was awarded grants by Awards For All in recognition of its work in the cultural field in 2007 (Esho Sabai Bangla Sikhi). “Esho Bangla Sikhi” Project was very successful and the fund was utilised for children’s benefit. 

Aims:

• Promote Bengali Culture among ethnic Indian and Bangladeshi population.
• Facilitate better understanding of cultural heritage among second generation Bengali.
• Foster better harmony through cultural exchange with local indigenous population 

Interest from local people in non-western music and dance is growing fast because of its special and unique features. This is why we want to organise more shows of this nature, especially music and drama which have universal appeal irrespective of culture and race. This would make Bengali culture more and more familiar. We firmly believe that through our programmes, we have been able to facilitate the creation of multi-cultural multiethnic society which is characteristic of cosmopolitan Britain. We have also promoted relations and mutual understandings with other formal and informal organisations. We are a very active group and most of our members are spread over a large geographical area. However as they are committed both physically and mentally we have managed to overcome the hurdle of travelling long distances to attend rehearsals and frequent meetings. There has also been a lot of interest from other local ethnic communities who have joined our activities from time to time. As we have done over the last 21 years hopefully we will continue to go from strength to strength.