Bold blues and golden hues painted the streets of the city’s northeast to celebrate the Sikh religious holiday, Vaisakhi. 

Kicking off the celebration, attendees gathered at the Dashmesh Culture Centre (DCC) on the morning of May 10 before parading through parts of Falconridge and Castleridge.

The estimated 100,000 participants later congregated at Prairie Winds Park to shop vendor booths and eat picnic lunches, all accompanied by the ambience of live performers playing traditional music. 

According to the World Sikh Organization, the event celebrates Vaisakhi which is when Guru Gobind Singh signed the order of Khalsa in 1699. Doing so, this requested that members of the religion wear certain physical articles to represent their commitment to Sikhism, ultimately establishing the faith in the form it exists today. 

Translated from Punjabi to English, ‘nagar’ means town and ‘kirtan’ means devotional hymns. To honour Vaisakhi, Sikhs follow the five beloved — the inaugural members of Khalsa — and recite hymns while parading through town. 

Although Vaisakhi is traditionally celebrated in April, Mayor Jyodi Gondek said the Calgary Nagar Kirtan happens in May when the weather is more hospitable.

Gondek said the Nagar Kirtan is the city’s second biggest annual parade behind the one held for the Calgary Stampede. Since moving here in 1997, she said the event has only continued to grow. 

“The thing that warms my heart the most is that it’s not just the Sikh community that’s participating,” said Gondek.

“Everyone’s welcome, everyone feels like they belong, and it’s just a beautiful thing.”

One community, many walks of life

Naming the DCC’s food bank and ready-hot meal program, No Hungry Tummy, Gondek said the northeast quadrant is an appropriate place to host the celebration because the neighbourhood personifies the basic principles of Sikhism: having faith, sharing, and living a good life. 

“When I think of all three of those things, especially living a good life, the amount of service that comes from this community into our city just helps make us stronger,” she said.

Ward 5 Coun. Raj Dhaliwal grew up in the northeast and agreed that the event not only celebrates religion, but also the value that cultural diversity adds to the city.

Dhaliwal remembers the first Nagar Kirtan parade and said that it has grown “tenfold” since. What’s also grown, he said, are members of the Calgary Police and Emergency Medical Services making being on-site at the event a priority.

“All of those departments are coming along and celebrating it with the community, and it’s also a celebration of the neighbourhood.”

Accompanying Dhaliwal at the parade, Ward 10 Coun. Andre Chabot mentioned the work he did with the Canadian Coalition of Municipalities Against Racism. He said that he connects the rise in attendance numbers to increased awareness over time.

Chabot said he recommends that every Calgarian participate in the event, no matter their religious beliefs. 

“Attending events like this helps us to better understand different ethnicities and different communities,” he said. 

“I think it’s very beneficial for all of us to get to learn a little bit about each other so that we can be more collaborative in what we do as a city as a whole.”

More photos from the Nagar Kirtan 2025 parade in Calgary