The area’s large Sikh community converged in Kent on Sunday to celebrate the 10th annual Khalsa Day – a religious and colorful festival filled with music, prayer, food and demonstrations – at the ShoWare Center on a warm, sun-spangled Sunday.

Every spring millions of Sikhs worldwide celebrate Khalsa or Vaisakhi Day, marking the beginning of the harvest season and the Sikh new year. It is considered one of the most important festivals in the Sikh calendar. Vaisakhi is historically the festival of spring harvest in Punjab, India.

Washington has about 50,000 Sikhs residing in Kent and Renton.

The day culminated with the Nagar Kirtan, the parade, in which thousands of people proceeded through the streets of Kent, singing hymns from a sacred book of worship known as Guru Granth Sahib Ji, the Sikhs’ most ultimate holy scripture.