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I was lucky enough to be invited to Golpo on Hills Road to celebrate International Mother Language Day. A worldwide annual event recognised by UNESCO for its celebration of linguistic and cultural diversity.

Regular readers of the Cambridge Foodies blog will know that I am a huge fan of Golpo and its authentic Bangladesh cuisine and to join on such a special day of unity and culture only made it more exciting.

Needless to say, food was plentiful, with a wide range of the usual high quality Bangladesh cuisine you would expect from the team at Golpo. Nobody was left hungry, with the numerous trays being constantly topped up and brought out.

The atmosphere was bustling and lively, with numerous familiar faces and new people reaching out and introducing themselves. It was a great atmosphere filled with positivity and intrigue.

There was no menu available as the food was brought out in a buffet, so it was hard to keep track of what I was eating but there wasn’t a bad dish among them. My personal highlights were lamb served on the bone and juicy cuts of chicken, both of which were swimming in a spicy curry sauce.

It was my idea of paradise!

The speakers

There is a wide variety of guest speakers, including Nakshi Stitch, who shared her inspiration behind the non-profit embroidery enterprise. She discussed the way she looked to empower women from across the world through sustainable means, while also offering high-quality hand-crafted Bengali homeware.

I was particularly struck by one speaker who discussed the history on how the language of Bengali had to be fought and won during the creation of Bangladesh (Bengali Language Movement).

This was followed by the children, who all bravely volunteered to come up on stage and share with the audience their multilingual skills. This was particularly inspiring to me, as someone who can barely manage English 🤣

And finally, people joined together in a display of unity and pride with a flag display. There were people from all over the world, with some coming as far as Columbia and Bangladesh, but also Ireland, Germany, and Ukraine.

We were then asked to stand to sing the Bangladeshi national anthem. I must admit, it had been a while since I had last sung this and my Bengali was a little rusty, but I could still appreciate the passion and pride behind each and every person singing it.

There was more to the evening but I was unable to stay for its entirety and the show continued without me. I left wondering what I had missed next in their long list of entertainment and fun.

A fun night of culture, history, and cuisine

It may come as no surprise that I had the time of my life this evening. The atmosphere was buzzing, with plentiful food, and lots of interesting things to take in. All within the stylist contemporary surroundings of Golpo. Massive credit to the team for throwing such a unique event in Cambridge.

I look forward to next year!

Thanks for reading