The streets of Surrey came to life with vibrant colors, music and community spirit on Saturday for the annual day of Vaisakhi Khalsa of the city, an event that the organizers say that the organizers of the event are the largest celebration of their kind in the world.
Vaisakhi is the annual Sij Festival that celebrates the new harvest. It also marks the creation of Khalsa’s order in 1699, a decisive moment in SIJ history that gave the faith its final form.
“The virtues of Khalsa are that humanity defends, human rights,” said Moninder Singh, spokesman for the Gurdwaras Council of BC and the Surrey Vaisakhi parade.
“Actually, it includes all people of different origins, genres, religions … making an inclusive environment for all.”
This year he marked the 27th edition of the parade in Surrey.
Singh, who has been part of each of them, said the celebration has only continued to grow on a scale, with an estimated 500,000 to 600,000 people attending the parade on Saturday.
“It has really been interesting to experience starting with approximately 50,000 to 60,000 people and now [this]”, said.
The parade began and ended at the Gurdwara Sahib Dasmesh Darbar, making its way through the streets of the city accompanied by floats, live music and dozens of food stalls with volunteering.
The route was full of tents that distributed everything from pakoras and sugarcane juice to complete meals, part of the SIJ tradition of Langaror free community food.
Tony Singh, owner of the Fruiticana supermarket chain and regular parade volunteer, said it served more than 100,000 people last year along with five other vendors.
“It’s a great feeling. It makes my hair stand up to see people … [their time] And nobody is paid, “he said.” Everyone puts their energy in it. “
Saturday’s great participation also meant months of planning for the surrey police service. Chief Norm Lipinski said the event scale has required additional resources every year.
“We have been planning this during the last eight months,” said Lipinski. “We have more than enough police officers here, even other jurisdictions, because we still have to manage the rest of the city.”
He said that the mood in the event was “very friendly to the family” and that security preparations included crowd control, medical assistance and help locate lost children.
A political and cultural meeting
The politicians of all levels of government were present, including the mayor of Surrey, Brenda Locke, BC Prime Minister David Eby and the federal leader of the PND Jagmeet Singh.
Singh said he was honored by the number of people who approached him to share his thoughts.
“I’m always moved by how love people show. It was overwhelming,“He said.” It definitely gives you energy. “
The organizer of the Moninder Singh parade said that Vaisakhi has served for a long time as a meeting point not only for the SIJS, but for people throughout the low continent and beyond to commit to each other.
This year, he said, the parade also had a more bleak tone.
He said that the SIJ community in the bass continent was particularly concerned about the issue of foreign interference in India, especially after Canadian officials said they found credible information that suggests that the Indian government was involved in the murder of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sij de Surrey leader who advocated a homeland Sikh known as Khalistan.
“This real parade is dedicated to the memory of [Nijjar]”Said Singh.
“So, while there is a festive celebration, there are some serious issues with which people are also here.”
Last weekend, Vancouver celebrated his own Vaisakhi parade, attracting about 200,000 attendees, according to the organizers.
