Hundreds of thousands of people from the Sikh community marked Vaisakhi over the weekend.

Vaisakhi, also called Baisakhi, is the festival which celebrates the founding of the Sikh community, the Khalsa, in 1699. It was originally a harvest festival in the Punjab region of India until it became Sikh's most important festival.

In east London, where it is thought there are 90,000 Sikhs, many enjoyed celebrating at an event in Newbury Park in Ilford - where there was music, performers, food, and stalls selling traditional jewellery and clothing. Event organiser, Joydeep Das, said: "It's not just for the Sikh community but predominantly it is ... and the Sikh community love celebrating.

"They need an occasion like this to come and celebrate." Celebrations traditionally include singing and music, as well as reading scriptures out loud and chanting hymns, with many Sikhs also choosing Vaisakhi as the day to be baptised into the Khalsa brotherhood.

A spring festival which happens on the 13 or 14 April every year, it’s one of the most important dates in the Sikh calendar. A day to celebrate 1699 - the year when Sikhism was born as a collective faith - it has been a harvest festival in Punjab for a long time, even before it became so important to Sikhs.

Ever since, to celebrate Vaisakhi, Sikhs have been visiting places of worship called Gudwaras and were also decorated for the occasion. Many people enjoyed parades and special processions through the streets called nagar kirtans.

With big celebrations taking place in the city of Anandpur Sahib in Punjab, which is where Guru Gobind Singh established the Khalsa, farmers there also used Vaisakhi as an opportunity to give thanks for a plentiful harvest and pray for a good one in the year to come.

The UK's largest Vaisakhi festival was celebrated in Victoria Park, in Smethwick, in the West Midlands, with celebrations also taking place in Birmingham, including Nagar Kirtan processions commencing from various Gurdwaras and culminating in the Vaisakhi Mela at Handsworth Park. There were also celebrations in Trafalgar Square and Southall, in London as well as in Gravesend, in Kent.

These events across the UK provide an immersive experience into Sikh traditions and are open to all, fostering community spirit and cultural understanding.