Festival fever as Leicester Sikhs party in style

Thousands of people lined the streets of Leicester yesterday to celebrate the birthday of the founder of the Sikh religion.

Floats led a parade of worshippers from the Guru Tegh Bahadur Gurdwara, in East Park Road, Leicester, to the Guru Nanak Gurdwara, at Holy Bones, near St Nicholas Circle.

The nagar kirtan – the name for a Sikh procession – took place to mark the 514th birthday of Guru Nanak Dev Ji.

A huge crowd of people followed the floats, with people coming out of their homes along the route to join in, singing and saying prayers as they wound their way across the city.

The parade followed morning prayers and hymns which were relayed from inside Guru Tegh Bahadur Gurdwara to people outside via loudspeakers.

Tarlochan Virk of the Punjabi Listener's Club, a Sikh group based in the city, said: "The birthday of Guru Nanak is a big occasion for us Sikhs and it's great that we have been able to celebrate today in Leicester.

"We have one of the biggest Sikh communities in the UK and thousands of people from all over have come down to enjoy themselves. It was a really big turnout and very successful. Lots of families will have put on spreads and parties afterwards."

Kabeer Ghale, 32, from Evington, set up a stall along the route, playing music and giving out food.

He said: "It great to see so many people celebrating in the city. We're very lucky that we can do this in Leicester.

"I was serving Indian food that me and my friends made last night, but it ran out very quickly."

Palvinder Singh, 17, from Oadby, was there with a group of friends who took along flags and horns. "We're treating it like a big party," he said. "We all met up in the morning and had some food and then walked along the route with everyone else.

"We've organised a meal for friends and family afterwards. I'm surprised how many people there were here."

Parts of London Road and St Nicholas Circle closed for the parade as well as East Park Road, Evington Road, Granville Road, Regent Road, King Street, Welford Place, Berridge Street, Grey Friars, St Martin's, Peacock Lane, Vaughan Way and Great Central Street.