Surrey Vaisakhi Parade cancelled for second year

The annual Surrey Vaisakhi parade has been cancelled for a second year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The event takes place every April and is the largest Vaisakhi parade in Canada and outside of India.

“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,” said Gurdwara Sahib Dasmesh Darbar President Moninder Singh in a statement.

“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.”

• See also:
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The cancellation comes after Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry addressed if the parade could happen last week.

Henry said that despite the allowance for small outdoor gatherings, people shouldn’t be getting their hopes up for large-scale community events such as Vaisakhi. 

For Sikhs in BC and around the world, Vaisakhi is a holy day. It commemorates the birth or establishment of Khalsa by Guru Gobind Singh Ji, the tenth Sikh Guru, in 1699.

In 2019, over 500,000 people attended the event.