One of Metro Vancouver’s largest annual cultural celebrations has been cancelled due to health concerns about COVID-19, or the novel coronavirus.

The organizers of the annual Surrey Vaisakhi Khalsa Parade, Gurdwara Sahib Dasmesh Darbar, issued a statement today (March 12) that this year’s parade scheduled for April 25 in Surrey has decided to cancel the event “until further notice or a significant change in the transmission of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic”.

The organizers stated that the “difficult decision” was made after several days of consultations with regional and provincial health officials, including the Fraser Health Authority, the B.C. Centre for Disease Control, and the B.C. Provincial Ministry of Health, and discussions with other Vaisakhi events around the world.

The cancellation decision came one day after the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11.

The Surrey event, which is among the largest Vaisakhi parades in the world, draws over 500,000 attendees to celebrate one of the most significant days in the Sikh calendar, which honours the founding of the Khalsa in 1699.