New York, March 20 (IANS) The Los Angeles mayor and top US lawmakers will join over 15,000 Sikhs in Southern California in the annual Baisakhi celebrations at the Los Angeles Convention Center April 6. The day will also mark the 309th anniversary of the Khalsa.

With the theme of “The Living Spirit of Guru”, this year’s festivities will begin with kirtan (religious hymns) at 7.30 a.m.

Grammy nominee Satnam Kaur Khalsa will be among the groups who will sing hymns till 2.30 p.m.

After this, a parade will be taken out from the venue at 3 p.m.

Winding its way through city streets, it will end in downtown Los Angeles at 5 p.m.

Floats bearing the message of Sikh gurus will be a major attraction of the parade.

According to the organisers, Congressman Brad Sherman, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Los Angeles County Sheriff Leroy (Lee) Baca, California State Board of Equalization Chairperson Judy Chu, California State Senator Mark Ridley-Thomas, California State Assembly Member Mike Eng and Los Angeles City Councillor Bernard Parks will join the celebrations.

Since this year marks the 25th anniversary of Baisakhi celebrations in Southern California, the Sikh community has introduced special Mai Bhago Spirit of Baisakhi Awards to honour those Sikh women who worked to promote the message of Sikh gurus and educate the world about the Sikh identity.

Among those being honoured are Harjot Kaur Singh, a Canadian film producer; Inni Kaur Dhingra; Penny Yogiraj Sandhu, CEO of JusPunjabi channel; Valarie Kaur, an American film director and writer; and Shanti Kaur Khalsa, writer and chairperson of the International Khalsa Council.

The parade has been organized jointly by all gurudwaras in Southern California for the past ten years.