Vaisakhi in Vancouver

Claude and I had a chance to go to Vaisakhi again this year. If you've never been, it is a Sikh harvest festival that involves sharing your prosperity with you neighbours. Basically you go down to the Punjabi Market area in Vancouver and many homes and businesses have tables set up where they give small plates of food (curries, bhajis, sweets, etc.) to passersby for free. It is a lot of fun to see everyone dressed up in their finery and the parade that comes through has martial arts demonstrations, traditional music and lots of happy people.

It was also especially fun this year because it reminded us of our trip. In past years, I would get really frustrated at Vaisakhi because you find that there are no lines for anything. People crowd and push and try to cut in front of you for a small plate of channa curry and a puri. This year I just laughed it off because that is exactly what it is like in India - everyone crowds to get to a place, to get a ticket, to buy a meal, etc. You just have to let go of your preconceptions and go with it - and then it is kind of fun. Just don't let yourself get pushed out!

We've loaded a few photos of yesterday up on Flickr. Take a look if you are interested.