{"id":198671,"date":"2026-09-07T01:21:46","date_gmt":"2026-09-07T01:21:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/198671\/"},"modified":"2026-09-07T01:21:46","modified_gmt":"2026-09-07T01:21:46","slug":"we-belong-and-we-are-giving-back-sikh-celebration-enlivens-downtown-winnipeg-winnipeg-free-press","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/198671\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018We belong\u2026 and we are giving back\u201d: Sikh celebration enlivens downtown Winnipeg \u2013 Winnipeg Free Press"},"content":{"rendered":"

Downtown Winnipeg came alive with vibrant sights, sounds, and scents on Sunday, as Manitoba\u2019s Sikh community flocked to Memorial Park to celebrate its annual Nagar Kirtan procession and festival.<\/p>\n

This year marked the 422nd anniversary of the completion of the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy scripture central to the Sikh faith. Shortly after 1 p.m., a palanquin bearing a copy of the scripture was led in parade through downtown Winnipeg, with musical accompaniment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a chance to tell the public and the whole community where we come from and who we are,\u201d said volunteer Prabh Grewal shortly before the procession got underway. \u201cIn a community there are people from every race and every country, and our main objective is to have everybody live in peace and harmony together.\u201d<\/p>\n

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JOHN WOODS \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n

Members of Manitoba\u2019s Sikh community gather to to celebrate its annual Nagar Kirtan procession and festival.<\/p>\n

Before, during, and after the procession, the park hummed with life. As many as 55,000 people converged on the site, with the majority dressed in festive traditional attire. Near the height of the day\u2019s 30 C heat, families relaxed in patches of shade, enjoying plates of Punjabi cuisine dished out for free at dozens of tents sponsored by local businesses.<\/p>\n

On the main stage, musicians performed traditional music and chants. Near the procession, youth gave demonstrations of gatka, the traditional Sikh martial art. Some tents around the site offered information about Sikh charitable opportunities, including the local chapter of international NGO Khalsa Aid and other organizations.<\/p>\n

That focus on communal support felt especially poignant, given a troubling incident that struck the site the day before. On Saturday, observers spotted racist graffiti on a Broadway transit sign, including a swastika and a threat targeting the community. With that in mind, Sunday was a chance to emphasize unity, Grewal said.<\/p>\n

\n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s just going back to the basics of how everybody can come together as one community, no matter what country you\u2019re from or what colour your skin is,\u201d Grewal said. \u201cWe belong to this community, and we are giving back to the community. There\u2019s always something going back.\u201d<\/p>\n

melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n

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JOHN WOODS \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n

Members of Manitoba\u2019s Sikh community worship and participate in Nagar Kirtan at Memorial Park on Sunday.<\/p>\n

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JOHN WOODS \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n

A boy examines the pictures of people killed for an independent Sikh Khalistan state during the festival.<\/p>\n

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JOHN WOODS \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n

Arsh Dhaliwal, left, and her cousin, Sukh Dhaliwal grab a selfie as people during the event.<\/p>\n

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JOHN WOODS \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n

People remove their shoes before going to worship.<\/p>\n

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JOHN WOODS \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n

People wash hands before going to worship and participate in Nagar Kirtan.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Melissa<\/p>\n

Melissa Martin
Reporter-at-large
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Melissa Martin reports and opines for the Winnipeg Free Press.<\/p>\n

Every piece of reporting Melissa produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Downtown Winnipeg came alive with vibrant sights, sounds, and scents on Sunday, as Manitoba\u2019s Sikh community flocked to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":198672,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[84],"class_list":["post-198671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-winnipeg","tag-winnipeg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=198671"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/198671\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/198672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=198671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=198671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/canada\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=198671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}