Pohela Boishakh (Bengali New Year, April 14) is Bangladesh's biggest secular celebration. On this day the streets flood with people in red-and-white clothing — saris, panjabis — carrying banners and musical instruments. In Dhaka, the Mangal Shobhajatra procession through the university area is spectacular: giant painted masks, colorful floats, folk music, and thousands of people. It was inscribed as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2016. Even if you are not in Dhaka, every town in Bangladesh marks the day.
Eid ul-Fitr marks the end of Ramadan and is the most important Muslim festival. Families gather, new clothes are bought, gifts are exchanged, and prayers are held in mosques and open fields across the country. The cities empty out as millions travel home to their villages — not a good time to travel, but a remarkable thing to witness.
Eid ul-Adha (the festival of sacrifice) follows roughly two months later and is celebrated with similar intensity. Livestock markets appear all over Dhaka in the days beforehand — the sight of thousands of cattle and goats being traded in the city is extraordinary.
Durga Puja, the Hindu autumn festival, is celebrated with particular color in Dhaka's old city and in Hindu-majority communities across the country. Clay artists spend weeks creating elaborate statues of the goddess Durga; on the final day, the statues are carried in procession to the river and immersed. Boat races often accompany the celebrations.
International Mother Language Day (February 21) commemorates the students killed in 1952 while protesting the Pakistani government's imposition of Urdu over Bangla. It is now a UNESCO-recognized international day. In Bangladesh, it is observed with deep seriousness — processions to the Shaheed Minar memorial in Dhaka begin at midnight.