Yuba City (California), Oct 21 (IANS) Yuba City, known as the first Punjabi village in the US, is all set for the annual Sikh Parade next week.
Home to the descendants of the earliest Indian immigrants to the US, Yuba City, near the California capital of Sacramento, is famous for its annual Sikh Parade. Over 75,000 Sikhs from around the world are expected to attend the 30th anniversary of the parade next week.

The parade is organized to mark the day of the installation of the Sikh scripture of the Guru Granth. The festivities will begin Friday (Oct 30) with the start of the non-stop recitation of the holy book at the city’s main Sikh Temple in the morning. The evening will end with a spectacular display of fireworks to be attended by main leaders of the city.

“It is the Sikh way of saying thank-you to the local community,” said Balraj Singh Dhillon, president of the Sikh Temple.

The next day, the Sikh community will hold an ‘Open House’ with elected officials, dignitaries and ordinary citizens.

“We will present Cultural Safari, is a 17-minute video, to educate leaders, school children, teachers and administrators about what it means to be a Sikh American,” said city surgeon Jasbir Singh Kang.

Sikh scholar I.J. Singh, who has written many books on Sikhism from a western perspective, will also enlighten the audience about the Sikh religion.

Upon the completion of its non-stop reading (or akhand path), the holy Granth will be installed on a lavishly decorated float and take through the streets of Yuba City.

Thousands are expected to follow the holy book in a procession.

The organizers said 50 floats depicting Sikh history and culture will be part of the parade, expected to extend up to four and a half miles.

To mark the 30th anniversary of the parade, the Sikh community has decided to launch a “massive” food drive to collect food items for the poor and needy.

“As part of our food drive, 250,000 meals will be prepared and distributed to the needy to show our tradition of caring and sharing,” said Kang.