Surrey (Laura Ballance) – Sunny skies brought another year of record crowds to the 2019 Surrey Vaisakhi Parade, with over 500,000 guests of all cultures and religions coming together to celebrate a peaceful, family-oriented day full of performances, live music, and decorative floats. This is the 20th year of this important event, the largest Vaisakhi parade in the world.
This year’s procession featured 20 floats representing local Sikh schools, community groups, humanitarian organizations, as well as the most important float in the procession, which carries the Guru Granth Sahib (Sikh holy scripture).
“We are thankful to our community here in Surrey, as well as the guests who travelled from as far away as the United Kingdom, the US and Australia to attend today’s event,” says Spokesperson Moninder Singh Bual of the Gurdwara Sahib Dasmesh Temple, organizers of the celebration.
As always, the festivities were volunteer-driven and exemplify the pride and enthusiasm of the Sikh community in sharing their rich culture and history. And as always, the festivities were free and open to all.
One of the event highlights was the welcome message at the opening of the parade delivered by Kevin Kelly and Chief Marilyn Gabriel of the Kwantlen First Nation. The Kwantlen elders were invited by event organizers to speak in this place of honour.
The Gurdwara Sahib Dasmesh Temple thanks all attendees for their participation. Planning will now begin for the 2020 celebration. For more information visit: SurreyVaisakhiParade.com.
Progressive Intercultural Community Services Society
