FILE PHOTO - Vaisakhi parade in Kelowna
Image Credit: Facebook
April 06, 2022 - 6:00 AM
With two years of pandemic cancellations, the Kamloops Sikh community is happy to be moving forward with a Vaisakhi parade this spring.
The annual celebration marks the harvest of winter crops in the Punjab region of India and the start of a new year. Farmers celebrate the fruits of their labour, give thanks and pray for prosperity in the future.
A Nishan Sahib, flag ceremony, will take place from 9 to 10:30 a.m., April 16, outside of the Sikh Cultural Society Gurudwara on Cambridge Crescent, followed by a parade around Brocklehurst.
“We were having lots of demand from the members for the parade and the society to have one also,” said Ishar Singh Bhatti, secretary of the Sikh Cultural Society Gurudwara. “It makes us really happy that we can do that and we are proud of the community supporting us."
With two Sikh temples in Kamloops, Singh Bhatti estimated they have around 2,000 Sikh community members.
Everyone is welcome at the Kamloops event, he said. Traditional vegetarian food stalls will also be set up on Lethbridge Avenue.
Prior to the pandemic, Kelowna’s Vaisakhi parade attracted roughly 5,000 to 10,000 people each year but Okanagan Sikh Temple president Amarjit Lalli said there wasn’t enough time to plan the event following the ease of COVID-19 restrictions. This will be the third year in a row Kelowna is without Vaisakhi celebrations.
The Surrey parade, among the largest in the world, was also cancelled this year with organizers citing uncertainty with the restrictions.
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