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| A family day out |
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| Celebrating Vaisakhi in Birmingham |
Around 90,000 Sikhs packed Handsworth Park as part of an annual celebration to remember the birth of their faith.
The Birmingham event was one of the largest Vaisakhi parties in the world and kicked off at 10am with two huge processions from the temples in Hockley and Smethwick.
Each parade was led by five Sikhs in traditional dress who represented the original Panj Pyare (Beloved Ones) who were the first to join the Sikh order over 300 years ago.
The processions arrived to a fantastic festive atmosphere in the park, where families enjoyed live music, dancing and craft stalls. Later, hungry visitors enjoyed the best Punjabi food thanks to a delicious Langar – a free vegetarian feast.
The 90,000 visitors beat last year’s attendance figures of more than 80,000.
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| Enjoying Vaisakhi |
Coun Martin Mullaney said: “Birmingham’s vibrant Vaisakhi festival shows how people come together in the city to celebrate their cultural identity.
“As part of a calendar of diverse community events it is a great example of why Birmingham has been shortlisted for UK City of Culture 2010.”
The theme of this year’s event was ‘Proud to be Sikh, Proud to be British’ and Ranjit Singh Dhanda, chair of the Council of Sikh Gurdwaras, said it was an appropriate theme to celebrate the richness and diversity of Birmingham.