Festival draws Sikhs from around the world

Satnam Singh does not know where he and 25 of his fellow members of a Sikh congregation from Birmingham, England, will stay when the arrive in Yuba City Friday night for the Nagar Kirtan (the Sikh parade and festival) taking place this weekend.

Singh flew into Los Angeles International Airport a few days ago with a few members of the congregation and stayed in Bakersfield Thursday. He is planning to meet up with the rest of the group in Yuba City Friday night and stay for the remainder of the festival Saturday and Sunday.

As of Thursday afternoon, Singh said he was waiting on a confirmation about where he and his group will stay, but wan’t sure.

“I’m not actually sure at the moment,” Singh said.

Singh and his congregation visited the Sikh community in Yuba City in April and were inspired by what they saw and were invited back for the festival this weekend.

Singh said the purpose of attending the Nagar Kirtan in Yuba City is to be inspired by what the Sikh community in Yuba City has achieved and witness the coming together of Sikhs and nonsikhs at the festival.

“It’s really nice to see humanity come together,” Singh said.

Karm Bains, a board member with the Tierra Buena Road Sikh Temple in Yuba City said the majority of people attending the festival will be from California, but there will be Sikhs from India, England, Canada and the East Coast.

He said many Sikhs who have moved away for work or other reasons have their roots in Yuba City and are making the yearly festival an especially meaningful and

well-attended event.

“For a lot of people it’s like a reunion,” Bains said.

He said local hotels have been booked for some time now and some people traveling to Yuba City stay with family and friends for the weekend. Since it’s the 40th year of the festival, Bains said most people have plans made for accommodations.

“It’s not their first rodeo,” Bains said.

Best Western Yuba City Inn General Manager Rita Kumari said the hotel has sold about 50-60

rooms for people attending the festival and that the hotel is completely booked for Saturday. Kumari said that some people reserved their spot for this weekend when they were checking out last November. She said most people reserve for two nights and some that have reserved one night try to extend their stay at the last minute.

Hampton Inn & Suites Yuba City said its 88 rooms are all booked on the day the festival starts and that some people booked a year or six months in advance.