Thousands trek to Yuba City for annual Sikh Parade. Here’s what to know
What’s commonly known as the Sikh Parade begins in Yuba City this weekend, bringing its trademark history, culture and logistical chaos to the Northern California town.
Anywhere from 100,000 to more than 200,000 people have been estimated at last year’s event, a large discrepancy that testifies to a greater point: It’s a lot of visitors for a city of about 70,000 people to accommodate.
“It was the biggest one I’ve ever seen,” said Sikh Temple Gurdwara president Sarb Thiara, of last year’s celebration.
Keeping with that trend, he expects this year’s event to draw larger crowds.
The Sutter County Nagar Kirtan, a religious celebration among the largest Sikh gatherings outside of India, begins Friday night and continues through its signature parade Sunday, which draws the largest turnout.
Welcoming enough people to more than double the city’s population takes the better part of a year of planning on the part of local officials, law enforcement and temple organizers, and still may result in loose ends. This year, similar to last year, Yuba City has not approved an official parade permit, authorities said, but officials have continued helping to orchestrate the event all the same.
Festivities begin Friday night at the temple with hymns followed by fireworks.
Saturday marks the raising of the Nishan Sahib, known as the Sikh flag, followed by scripture readings that continue throughout the weekend, including the parade Sunday.
The parade departs the temple Sunday morning and makes a slow crawl through a several-mile route, lined with thousands of people and many vendors handing out food and drinks.
Road closures along the parade route and parking restrictions on some roads and neighborhoods are expected. The parade departs from the temple, on Tierra Buena Road, and heads onto Butte House Road.
“It’s something that’s really put us on the map, continues to be an amenity for Yuba City and something that makes us special,” said Yuba City Councilmember Wade Kirchner.
But it’s not without its challenges.
A year of planning
Earlier this year Yuba-Sutter Transit, which operates bus routes throughout Yuba City and Marysville, canceled its partnership with Sikh Temple Gurdwara in Yuba City after providing shuttle services since 2007.
The festival, entering its 46th iteration, has grown substantially since its inception, including the years during the public busing partnership. Last year, Yuba-Sutter Transit gave an estimate of 25,000 rides, which included operating 19 vehicles for 204 hours, according to agency meeting minutes.
Directors for the joint powers agency in April ended the arrangement, siding with a committee finding that the partnership with the temple could potentially put the transit authority, which receives state and federal funding, out of compliance with requirements attached to that funding.
“The board took the direction this year to discontinue the service of the Sikh Parade because they felt that funding was at risk,” said Kirchner, who heads the transit authority board of directors. “Since Yuba-Sutter Transit is federally and state funded, one of the things that it shouldn’t be participating in is as a private charter, which they had been doing these years.”
Following that decision, temple leaders contracted with Sacramento bus company Amador Stage Lines to provide busing for this year’s Sunday parade, which will shuttle attendees from parking areas at River Valley High School and Yuba College Sutter County Center, Thiara said.
Heavily-trafficked highways divide both parking areas — the high school, south of Highway 20, and the college center, east of Highway 99 — from the temple and parade route, which stretches through several roads in the northwest corner of town surrounding the temple.
The heavy foot traffic in and out of the festival area, including masses of people crossing busy roads, is among the public safety concerns that authorities consider.
The parade Sunday draws the largest crowd of the three-day event. Temple leaders and local authorities have worked on the growing event, with increased law enforcement and private security retained for the weekend. Regardless of the planning or permitting processes, the influx of thousands of people has become inevitable.
Yuba City Police Sgt. David Krause told City Council members last week that the temple’s parade permit request was outdated and submitted late. It has been denied. But that doesn’t prevent the festival from taking place. The permit was not approved last year, either, he said.
“I don’t know that they’re going to submit a new one,” Krause said of the permit. “But no permit has been submitted beyond the original one that’s not going to be approved, and that’s where it stands right now with the actual permit.”
Despite the hiccups and shifting responsibilities throughout the years, Thiara, the temple president, said the involved local authorities and event organizers are aligned on wanting a safe, successful event for the community.
And the invitation extends beyond the thousands of Sikh attendees who journey to Yuba City from throughout the state and country.
“Everybody’s welcome,” Thiara said. “It’s not just our event, it’s everybody’s event.”
This story was originally published October 27, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
