Vaisakhi is seen as a spring harvest festival celebration in the Punjab and Northern India. Although Vaisakhi began as a grain harvest festival for Hindus and its observance predates the creation of Sikhism, it gained historical association with the Sikhs following the inauguration of the Khalsa. For Sikhs, in addition to its significance as the harvest festival during which Sikhs hold kirtans, visit local gurdwaras, community fairs, hold nagar kirtan processions, raise the Nishan Sahib flag, and gather to socialize and share festive foods, Vaisakhi observes major events in the history of Sikhism and the Indian subcontinent that happened in the Punjab region. Vaisakhi as a major Sikh festival marks the birth of the Khalsa order by Guru Gobind Singh, the tenth Guru of Sikhism, on 13 April 1699.
In 2025 the Vaisakhi parade took place in Nottingham on Sunday 20 April. The parade started on Church Street, Lenton outside the Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Ji Gurdwara. It then headed north along Lenton Boulevard and Radford Boulevard, before heading east along Gregory Boulevard and finished at the Baba Buddha Gurdwara in Sherwood. Similar parades have been taking place in Nottingham for the past forty years or more. As you can see it is a very colourful event which includes the singing of spiritual hymns, martial arts displays and a procession of motorbikes.
These twenty-two photographs show the Vaisakhi parade as it passed through Lenton. They are a set of photographs taken by Joel Moore for the Nottingham Post - six of which appeared in the Nottingham Post on Monday 21 April 2025. Larger version of Joel's photographs which have accompanying captions can be seen by clicking on this link to the Nottingham Post website.
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Let us know your memories of the Vaisakhi Parades in Lenton
Do you have any historical information or other photographs of this parade? If so, email us with the details or write to us.