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VIDEO: Surrey Vaisakhi Parade floods Newton streets

Hundreds of thousands of people attended the annual event
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A student with Khalsa School gives a demonstration of the chakar during the Surrey Vaisakhi Parade on April 20, 2019. (Photo: Lauren Collins)

Hundreds of thousands of people filled the streets of Newton Saturday (April 20) for the annual Surrey Vaisakhi Parade.

The Surrey parade is among the largest Vaisakhi parades in the world.

Addressing a crowd, Mayor Doug McCallum said he expected about 600,000 people to be in attendance.

In 2018, Surrey’s South Asian community celebrated its 20th annual Vaisakhi parade, which commemorates the founding of the Sikh religion in 1699. Parades have been held in Vancouver since 1979 and in Surrey since 1998.

The parade included demonstrations from Khalsa School and several floats.

As usual, a highlight was the dozens of tents serving up free food.

With files from Tom Zillich

READ ALSO: Vaisakhi voices in Surrey: What does Vaisakhi mean to you?

READ ALSO: Vaisakhi explained: Founding of the Khalsa was a seminal event in Sikh history

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Lauren Collins

About the Author: Lauren Collins

I'm a provincial reporter for Black Press Media's national team, after my journalism career took me across B.C. since I was 19 years old.
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