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Until the 1970s, the festival was celebrated with zeal by the locals too.
Baisakhi Mela was
held in Lahore after the harvesting of the wheat crop. However, all this began fading after
Zia-ul-Haq came to power during the 1970s. Recently, the Pakistan Muslim League even
banned kite flying. However, Baisakhi Melas are still held in Eminabad and certain other
places in Pakistan.
Canada
There are huge numbers of Sikhs residing in Canada and they
celebrate the festival of
Baisakhi with great zeal. This is one of the main festivals for them. Nagar Kirtans are held
and large numbers of people take part in the same. Surrey, a city in the Province of British
Columbia, Canada attracted more than 200,000 people for their Baisakhi celebration in the
year 2014. The record was broken in the year 2016 with 350,000
people and further in
2017 with 400,000 people attending the Baisakhi festival held in the city.
United States
Manhattan and Los Angeles are two such cities in United States that celebrate the festival
of Baisakhi with immense enthusiasm. The people belonging to the Sikh community in
Manhattan offer free food on this day and also contribute in different
tasks to improve the
community. Kirtan are held in Los Angeles and processions are carried out to celebrate this
festival.
United Kingdom
United Kingdom too has a large Sikh community. West Midlands and London are known to
have the largest number of Sikhs in the UK. The Nagar Kirtan
held in Southhall attracts
large number of people from different parts of the United Kingdom. It is held in
coordination with Birmingham City Council. The Nagar Kirtan starts from the gurudwaras
in the city and ends at the Baisakhi Mela organised at Handsworth Park. This year saw,
Sadiq Khan, the London Mayor attending the Baisakhi parade that
began and culminated
at Sri Guru Singh Sabha Southall Gurudwara located on Havelock Road.
Conclusion
Baisakhi is celebrated by the people from the Sikh community living in different
parts of the world. Indians are known for their warm behaviour and the celebration of
Baisakhi in different countries thus attracts the locals too who take part equally
enthusiastically.
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