The Yuba City Nagar Kirtan is an annual gathering of an estimated 100,000 people in Yuba City, California, making it one of the largest religious gatherings in the U.S. In the Punjabi language, nagar can be translated as town or neighborhood and kirtan is devotional singing of sacred hymns. The tradition of singing religious hymns while parading through neighborhood streets goes back to the medieval period in India, when Saints of different religious traditions led mass parades in devotional singing. The Yuba City Nagar Kirtan stretches over one long weekend each year and includes a professional fireworks show, many stalls either providing educational materials or selling an array of cultural items, and a smorgasbord of delicious Indian foods and treats lovingly prepared and served for free through the service work of neighboring Sikh communities. The climax and focal point of the weekend is the ceremonial parading through the streets of Guru Granth Sahib—the central Sikh scripture, revered as the Living Guru (Teacher of sacred knowledge) of Sikhism—as sacred hymns from the scripture are performed by musicians and amplified for the crowd. It is common for other Sikh American communities to host similar nagar kirtan events, but the annual Yuba City Nagar Kirtan is the largest such gathering, and draws Sikh and non-Sikh visitors from all over California and beyond.

Religions and religious identities are created and re-created through communities’ performance of religious practices. Performance of sacred music is absolutely central in Sikhism, and  performers and teachers of Sikh religious music and the central role Sikh sacred music is playing are the mode through which how new generations of Sikh Americans are learning to ‘perform’ Sikh identity in the American context. In the post-9/11 era, Sikh Americans have been subject to mistreatment, discrimination, and even deadly violence due to their religiously mandated distinct appearance (including turbans and uncut hair).The Yuba City Nagar Kirtan as a highly public performance of Sikh identity—through the performance of Sikh music, traditional martial arts, service to the community, and cultural activities. In an American society that is, at best, sometimes ambivalent about Sikhs (and religious ‘others’ in general), and, at worst dangerous for Sikhs, the Yuba City Nagar Kirtan (as well as other nagar kirtans) provides an opportunity to be Sikh ‘out loud’ in America in a safe and positive way. The Nagar Kirtan also presents opportunities for Sikhs to ‘introduce’ themselves to the broader American public, raise awareness about discrimination against Sikhs in the U.S. and around the world, and also to display their pride as Sikhs and as patriotic Americans.

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