Surrey Vaisakhi parade cancelled for 2021 due to COVID19

Surrey's largest festival celebrated by the Sikh community the annual Vaisakhi parade has been cancelled this year again due to COVID19. 

The event was to take place in Surrey on April 24th. The Surrey Vaisakhi parade is the largest in Canada and outside of India drawing crowds in excess of over half a million. 

Gurdwara Sahib Dasmesh Darbar President Moninder Singh issued statement.“It is clear that there is no path for an event the size and magnitude of our Parade to occur safely within the next three months,” he said

“We will celebrate this important date in the Sikh calendar within our family groups and with special broadcast programming but will look to gather again as a community for the traditional Surrey Vaisakhi Khalsa Day Parade in 2022.”

BC's top health official Dr. Bonnie Henry was asked about the large scale event such as the Vaisakhi parade during her media briefings and she said it is a good idea to hold off on such community events for the time being. 

Vaisakhi is celebrated every April to mark the spring harvest and the establishment of the Khalsa Panth (the community of committed Sikh warriors).

It is the day that marks the birth of the Khalsa and the Sikh New Year! In 1699, Sri Guru Gobind Singh Ji formally established the Khalsa Panth in the city of Anandpur Sahib with his disciples.