GLAMOROUS costumes and traditional food were among the highlights at Swindon’s Bengali new year celebration.

The event, at the Broadgreen Community Centre on Sunday, welcomed hundreds of people who enjoyed the opportunity to celebrate Bangladesh’s heritage.

The festivities in the town were organised by Bangladesh Association Swindon, which was formed 1992, and aimed to bring the community together.

Enam Chowdhury, general secretary of the group, said: “It was a very successful day, we were very happy to have such a wonderful event. We celebrate in Bangladesh and all over the world and we wanted to ensure there was a big celebration taking place in Swindon.

“It was a great way to celebrate our new year and engage with our young people.”

Guests enjoyed a meal while there were also music performances during the day.

Enam said: “We had so many people coming and going during the day. We had enough food to cater for 400 people and that was all gone, so we must have been popular.

“It was truly excellent seeing our young people, those who have been born in England, using their second language in front of hundreds of people during our celebrations. They really made us all very proud.”

Many councillors from across the town attended the event.

Junab Ali, (Central) was one of those who enjoyed the programme of activities.

“It was extremely bright and colourful and everybody was happy and having a lot of fun,” he said.

Enam said that Bengali new year fell on April 17 but the Bangladesh Association Swindon decided to hold their celebration afterwards because they thought the event would attract more people on Sunday. They thanked those who supported their special day.

“I would like to thank everyone who helped make the event a success,” he added.

“It is important to say thank you to everyone who attended, including the dignitaries from Swindon. It was also great to see so many people from further afield.”

The Bangladesh Association Swindon aims to bring together Bangaldeshi people from the town and those living in Swindon who want to discover more about the country’s culture.