Watch: Sea of music and colour as Walsall residents celebrate Vaisakhi with parade
It was a sea of music and colour in Walsall as people came together to celebrate Vaisakhi.
The borough's Vaisakhi parade got underway on Sunday morning with thousands of people coming together to celebrate the birth of Sikhism in 1699.
Several businesses and faith groups joined in with the festivities and made the day special with delicious treats such as samosas and pakoras.
The cultural procession took place from 10am and 2pm and started with around 4000 people who travelled down West Bromwich Street, Corporation Street, Wednesbury Road, A4038 Darlaston Road, Wellington Street, where it halted for an hour before continuing onto A4148 Pleck Road.
It then moved on to Rollingmill Street, where it halted for 30 minutes before proceeding along Corporation Street West and Corporation Street.
The parade ended at the Guru Nanak Gurdwara Sahib on West Bromwich Street with many more people than it started with.
Walsall's Vaisakhi Nagar Kirtan celebration also saw neighbourhood-devotional music through the Nagara and Dhol drums - the Nagara is a large, circular drum which is often seen at Sikh processions and ceremonies, and the Dhol is a barrel-shaped drum popular in Punjabi folk music such as bhangra.
Vaisakhi, celebrated on this day April 13, is a spring harvest festival that commemorates the formation of the Khalsa - the collective body of initiated Sikhs - by the tenth Guru, Guru Gobind Singh Ji, in 1699.
Councillor Simran Cheema, who represents Willenhall North, said: "It was brilliant to see thousands in attendance for the annual Vaisakhi parades. I would like to thank the Gurdwara and the committees for organising the Nagar Kirtan. Vaisakhi marks the founding of the Khalsa, and I would like to wish all celebrating a very Happy Vaisakhi."
There will also be a Vaisakhi community day taking place in the borough on April 26 from 12pm until 4pm.
It is free for all to celebrate the birth of the Khalsa and the harvest time in Northern India.
The day promises an exciting dance performance from the Gabhru Panjab de Bhangra Team, as well as Simran, Kirtan and poetry performed by Gobind Sarvar Gurmat School.
There will also be a tabla performance by world-famous Dalbir Singh Rattan and his students, have-a-go Kundalini Yoga, display of Sikh Community art and make a cardboard sword with artist Daya Bhatti.
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