Vaisakhi in Southall: Recap after procession goes through closed roads to celebrate Sikh New Year

We hope everyone had a good day today!

We’ll bring you a full story round-up of the procession tomorrow, but we hope everyone enjoyed it today.

Look at these smiling coppers!

Photos and videos

If you want to share any photos or videos with us, please do! You can tweet them at us on Twitter @getwestlondon, or through our Get West London Facebook page.

From TfL traffic news:

SOUTHALL AREA - Following a procession, closures between South Rd & Dormers Wells Lane Uxbridge Road are in place. Use other routes.

First mayoral visit?

According to Sikhs for Labour, today marks the first time a London Mayor has ever visited the event to mark Vaisakhi.

Sadiq Khan, who of course is in attendance today, did attend last year as well alongside Conservative mayoral candidate Zac Goldsmith ahead of the election.

A view from the front!

Sadiq Khan: 'Brilliant to be back'

The Mayor of London said: “Londoners don’t just tolerate our diversity, we celebrate it! Brilliant to be back in Southall alongside thousands at Vaisakhi celebrations.”

Sadiq Khan is at the event

“Sun is shining here in Southall at the Sri Guru Singh Sabha Southall Vaisakhi parade, one of the largest in Europe,” said London’s Mayor.

Traffic

This is all our traffic monitoring system has logged for Southall:

“King Street and The Green closed due to a procession before A3005 South Road.”

All roads on procession route now closed

All roads on the procession route are now CLOSED, police have said.

This means all buses through that part of Southall are on diversion.

Here’s a reminder of the procession route:

Photos from the procession

Here are a few photos which have been posted on social media.

St John Ambulance and London Ambulance Service cycle responders are shown to be present to keep everyone safe.

Heavy crowds

There are reportedly “heavy crowds” in Southall for the procession now - unsurprising since it’s such a beautiful day!

The Green is now closed

It will reopen after the procession has ended.

The procession is forming up

Thanks to the Met Police for taking photos and videos today.

Start and finish in Southall

Start: Havelock Road Gurdwara
End: Park Avenue Gurdwara

Here’s the route:

Roadworks put on hold

Roadworks being done by the National Grid in Southall’s Park Avenue have been put on hold for the procession to go ahead.

Work on the delayed project was cleared last weekend and will resume on April 18.

Gas distribution network engineer, Brent Tattam, said: “We always try to deliver our work as considerately as possible which is why we’ve suspended the project several times to enable local events to continue unaffected by the project.

“This means we have to fill in our excavations and clear the site and then re-excavate and set the site up again when we return, which takes time.”

Officers at the start of the procession at 10.30am

Are you going today?

If you take any photos or videos of the event today, please make sure to share them with us by tweeting @getwestlondon or messaging us on our Facebook page.

Roads busy

Police have advised motorists of road closures ahead of the annual Vaisakhi procession through Southall.

Roads were already busy at 10.15am, the Southall Broadway police team said on Twitter.

The Green, South Road, Uxbridge Road and others are due to close later during the procession.

Last year

Here’s a bit about last year’s event.

Thousands of people lined the streets of Southall in a vibrant nagar kirtan procession to celebrate Vaisakhi, the Sikh New Year and the harvest festival.

The procession began at 11am on Sunday April 10, 2016 from the Havelock Road Gurdwara, and continued through the streets of the surrounding area, to finish at Park Avenue Gurdwara at 4pm.

Mayoral candidates, Labour’s Sadiq Khan and Conservative Zac Goldsmith were both spotted enjoying the festivities

We'll be bringing you updates

We hope everyone has a great day at the Vaisakhi procession today.

We’ll be bringing you updates from police and on the progress of the procession throughout the afternoon.