School Wide Vaisakhi Celebration Assembly

What is Vaisakhi celebrating?

Celebrated on the first day of the Vaisakh month throughout the Punjab region of northern India, Vaisakhi typically falls on either April 13^th or April 14^th each year. Vaisakhi is, in many ways, a thanksgiving celebration insofar as it coincides with the spring harvesting of Rabi crops in India. Rabi crops are crops planted in autumn and harvested in the winter. Examples include wheat, barley, peas and mustard. In this sense, Vaisakhi is well understood as a regional and cultural celebration that includes people of multiple faiths.

Vaisakhi is not the only celebration held on this first day of the Vaisakh month. At the same time, region-specific celebrations are held throughout India. While they are not addressed in this article, it is important to acknowledge that these celebrations each have their own rich and unique histories. These include Naba Barsha in West Bengal, Puthandu in Tamil Nadu and Vaisakha in Bihar.

In addition to functioning as a harvest festival, Vaisakhi takes on particular religious significance for the Sikh community. For many, the formalization of Sikhism as a religion is linked to Vaisakhi day in 1699. This significance includes the establishment of the ‘five Ks’ and is well summarized here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/sikhism/customs/fiveks.shtml
Celebrating Vaisakhi:

In large part, Vaisakhi is centred around family and community based celebrations.

In the Lower Mainland, two Vaisakhi parades in Vancouver will, together, host over 400,000 attendees.  Many Delta students will have at least some contact with these celebrations. The Vaisakhi parades often combine both religious and cultural aspects of Vaisakhi – for this reason, they often involve much in the way of food, entertainment, religious processions, displays of martial arts and, of course, dance and song.

Celebrating at home will, of course, look different for different families. Many Punjabi families will celebrate by gathering together with extended family. Many Sikhs will visit the Gurdwara as well.