The High Commission of India along with Gurdwaras in the UK and the diaspora are organising their first ever annual 'Baisakhi' celebrations at the SKLP Sports Centre in Northolt on Sunday 30 April (11am-4pm).
This year is the 350th birth anniversary of Shri Guru Gobind Singh and that has encouraged the Mission to organise this event for the first time in this special year and is being supported financially supported by the Ministry of Culture.
Speaking to Asian Voice exclusively, an official spokesperson said, “Initially we planned to club this event with the Mayor of London's Vaisakhi celebrations at the Trafalgar Square. But then we thought, we would rather do it in a bigger way, closer to the community's home, and celebrate it in a way they would like to celebrate it.”
Expecting at least 20,000 people, the day has been planned out with much details. This is the first time, 13 London Gurdwaras (and perhaps more from other parts of the UK) are coming together to host Vaisakhi on a common ground and will be providing 'langar' to the visiting guests. This free event is not confined to the Punjabi community alone, but will also include participants from other communities - representing India in its truest spirit.
Apart from huge variety of Punjabi food available for free, the venue will have stalls to buy things from or food of your choice to taste, but the menu remains strictly vegetarian for the day. There will be Bhangra, Gidda and Gatka performances, and childrens’ teams will take part in Kabaddi, while you can also get a turban tied on your head or heena painted on your hands for fun.
For children there will be bouncy castle, face paintings and so on, but the most exciting will be a bhangra class/workshop with a DJ, which promises to steal their hearts for sure. They will be treated like VIPs, and will have a small stage to themselves, where they will be welcomed to put up a little performance of their choice- anytime.
Besides the children's performances, there will be many Punjabi and non-Punjabi community organisations participating in the cultural activities on the day- the most exciting being a performance by Punjabi singer Jasbir Jassi. Channi Singh, Vasda Punjab, Mona Singh, Heera Group and many others promise to entertain the audience as no one ever. While it is expected the local politicians will also join this exciting get-together, they will not be allowed to do any campaigning for the upcoming general election at this event. “The High Commissioner HE Y K Sinha will be present there himself. He will go up on the stage to thank the community- other than that this event will have no speeches from anyone. The stage is for the community talents- and we know the diaspora will enjoy their performances more than anything else,” added the spokesperson.
The Deputy High Commissioner of India to UK, Dinesh Patnaik, who plans to attend the event, may be joined by his wife Poonam Patnaik, who is of Punjabi Sikh origin.
This event promises to create an example for the coming years when these festivities could be held annually. The spokesperson said, “We initially aimed to make this a one-off event. But looking at the enormous contribution of this community, we wanted to do something more to thank them properly. So we thought that we should create something for the posterity- a simple way to make our children aware of their roots, culture and heritage. But this Vaisakhi festival is not just open to the Punjabis, but to everybody, who wants to have a good day out with their friends and family.”
To participate or book a stall write to: [email protected]. Asian Voice and Gujarat Samachar are a print media partner at this event.
