Two women looking at a float during the Vaisakhi parade on April 27, 2024.
(JESSE TOMAS / iNFOnews.ca)
April 27, 2024 - 4:30 PM
Spirits were high as rain fell on the Vaisakhi parade in Kelowna.
Hundreds of people gathered at the Okanagan Sikh Temple in Rutland to celebrate the holiday with a parade full of colour, food, music, and movement.
“Sikhs across the world and across Canada are gathering to mark Vaisakhi or the founding of the Khalsa,” according to a press release from the World Sikh Organization of Canada.
“Although Vaisakhi has traditionally been a harvest festival in Punjab and across South Asia for centuries, the day has a very special significance for Sikhs. On Vaisakhi Day in 1699, Guru Gobind Singh created the order of the Khalsa. The Khalsa are those Sikhs who have accepted the Sikh initiation or “khande kee paahul” and commit to live their lives in the spirit of service to all, equality and compassion. The founding of the Khalsa was a seminal event in Sikh history which gave the Sikh faith its final form,” the organization said in the release.
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Various groups participated in the parade around Rutland including Okanagan Punjabi Riders motorcycle club, and the traditional Sikh martial arts group Akaal Sahai Okanagan Gatka Akhara.
Click here to learn more about Vaisakhi.
Members of the Okanagan Punjabi Riders during the Vaisakhi parade on April 27, 2024.
(JESSE TOMAS / iNFOnews.ca)
A tractor pulling a float during the Vaisakhi parade on April 27, 2024.
(JESSE TOMAS / iNFOnews.ca)
A member of Akaal Sahai Okanagan Gatka Akhara during the Vaisakhi parade on April 27, 2024.
(JESSE TOMAS / iNFOnews.ca)
A man on a parade float during the Vaisakhi parade on April 27, 2024.
(JESSE TOMAS / iNFOnews.ca)
The Okanagan Punjabi Riders during the Vaisakhi parade on April 27, 2024.
(JESSE TOMAS / iNFOnews.ca)
The Okanagan Sikh Temple during the Vaisakhi parade on April 27, 2024.
(JESSE TOMAS / iNFOnews.ca)
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