The final countdown has begun. NABC2013 is now only days away. Banga Sammelan begins this weekend at Metro Toronto Convention Center. In this episode, our Toronto correspondent Srijeet Chaudhury files a special report on the Closing Ceremony and other activities. Choreographer Kohinoor Sen Barat and his associates Bappa Chatterjee and Dipankar Datta explain their vision about the closing ceremony and the epic Mahabharata. Ashish Sengupta, Dhiman Mitra, Indira Basu, Shakuntala Chatterjee and NABC Youth team provide an update on the various arrangements. We hope to see you in Toronto!

In this episode we take a look at the NABC Opening Ceremony. In a free-wheeling conversation with Srijeet Chaudhury, chorographer Tanusree Shankar shares her views on the opening ceremony, its presentation, and the effort and enthusiasm shown by prabasi bengali parents and children to embrace the bengai culture. Kalyani Saha, Julie Mitra, and Kaushik Chaudhury provides an update on the hospitality arrangements while NABC2013 Vice Chairperson Rathin Ghosh talks about food arrangements.

With just over a month left for the Toronto Banga Sammelan, Bangla Podcast brings you an update. The star attraction for this year's NABC is melody queen Shreya Ghoshal. In a candid conversation with Deb from Bangla Podcast, Shreya sings one of her recent favorites from the movie Autograph and lays out her plans for the NABC performance. If you want Shreya to sing one of your favorites, send us an email and we'll send across your request to Shreya. Next week Srijeet provides news from Toronto and Tanusree Shankar joins us to talk about the opening ceremony.

Shubho Nababarsha! BanglaPodcast wishes all its listeners a happy and prosperous 1420. Like every year, the 2013 Banga Sammelan podcast series makes its debut on this auspicious day. We receive greetings from Tapan Sen on behalf of the NABC2013 organizing team. Shreya Ghoshal, Bickram Ghosh, Lopamudra, Bangla Band Dohar and Sasha Ghosal greet you as well. Then our host Piya takes you through a summary of the happenings of this year's Banga Sammelan with snippets of some lovely songs. The sound is in sync with this year's NABC theme of Bengal Renaissance bringing Bengal to Toronto. Srijeet Chaudhury provides an update on the arrangements by host organization PBCA.

With only about a week left for North America's largest Bengali adda, activities are at its peak. We visit Washington Kali Temple where Kalyan Sen Barat is conducting rehearsal sessions with community members. The dance practice is for the Baltimore NABC2011 Opening Ceremony. Kalyan-da reveals the design of the Opening and Closing ceremonies, and the Tagore 150th anniversary celebrations. Listen to our conversation with Kalyan Sen Barat and enjoy the dances.

More than 300 volunteers have been working tirelessly for over two years for the 31st North American Bengali Conference. Banga Sammelan begins at Baltimore Convention Center on July 1 and continues through to July 3, 2011. BanglaPodcast was there in Rockville, MD to capture moments from a team meeting last month. This episode will provide you a behind the scenes tour of what it takes to pull off this huge prabasi event. Get a sneak peak into the facilities arrangement, exhibition, art and decoration, hotel and transportation etc.

The foodie bengali must have the mouth-watering delicacies to call any event a success. North America's largest Bengali gathering, Banga Sammelan, offers the ultimate confluence of gastronomical delights and cultural spread. NABC 2011 Baltimore organizers Sudhansu Saha and Utpal Dasgupta update Bangla Podcast listeners about the food arrangements. And yes, elaborate snack stalls would be available late into the evening.

This year's Banga Sammelan is being organized by Sanskriti of Washington DC area, Prantik and North Virginia Bengali Association (NVBA). While most events like the Pujas or Rabindra-Nazrul Jayanti etc. are organized by individual clubs and community associations, a national event like Banga Sammelan brings forth this unique collaboration between the prabasi bengalis of the area. Amit Adhya of Prantik, Nandita Dasgupta of Sanskriti and Debasri Mitra of NVBA share with BanglaPodcast their feelings about this ownership and participation.

BanglaPodcast team caught up with the young organizers of this years Banga Sammelan at Baltimore. The 2011 NABC Youth Conference promises to be different - stars from the main conference will be holding workshops for the youth and several youth events are slated for prime time and the main stages. The usual cultural activities, mixers, speed-dating will be there of course. Listen to Mishka Mukherji, Bhavna Sengupta, Koushik Chatterjee, Ishaan Mukherji and Abhik Saha update you on the youth program.

Shubho Nababarsha! BanglaPodcast wishes all its listeners a happy and prosperous 1418. Like every year, the 2011 Banga Sammelan podcast series makes its debut on this auspicious day. We receive greetings from Rama Saha - NABC2011 chairperson. Srikanto Acharya, Lopamudra and Kumar Shanu greet you as well. Then our host Piya takes you through a summary of the happenings of this year's Banga Sammelan with snippets of some lovely songs. The sound would take you back to Bengal while the arrangments promise to bring Bengal to Baltimore.