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Vancouver has no shortage of great walking locations. The Stanley Park Seawall, Granville Island, the trails in Pacific Spirit Park, and the Grouse Grind are just four places that spring to mind.

A City of Vancouver pedestrian-safety study, published in 2012, pointed out that people in Vancouver were more likely to walk to work than residents of 16 major North American and European cities, including New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto, Ottawa, Edmonton, and Calgary.

At the time, more than 12 percent of all trips to work in Vancouver were on foot—eclipsed only by Boston, at 14 percent—according to the report.

There’s no shortage of evidence for the health benefits of being a pedestrian. According to a study led by University of Pittsburgh psychologist Kirk Erickson in 2010, walking 9.5 to 14.5 kilometres a week was associated with reduced brain shrinkage in old age, which lessened the likelihood of memory loss and cognitive deterioration.

Harvard Medical School researchers have drawn links between walking at least a half hour per day and reduced risk of coronary-artery disease among male health professionals. Meanwhile, three hours of walking per week led to lower risk of heart attack and stroke among 72,488 female nurses.

But many Vancouver residents who walk the seawall or climb the Grind don’t realize that the upcoming Vaisakhi celebration offers an extraordinary opportunity for a healthy hike as well as an education in Sikh culture. This Saturday (April 12), tens of thousands will converge on the southeastern corner of the city for the annual Vaisakhi parade, which is put on by the Khalsa Diwan Society. It coincides with an ancient harvest festival in India and commemorates Guru Gobind Singh’s founding of a military order called the Khalsa in 1699.

The colourful parade provides tremendous insights into Sikh traditions along with a potpourri of Punjabi music and dance. And from a health perspective, it also offers a chance to enjoy a leisurely 6.1-kilometre walk. Starting at the Ross Street Temple at 11 a.m., it continues 1.4 kilometres along Marine Drive to Main Street. From there, it turns north up the hill along Main Street for 1.6 kilometres before reaching East 49th Avenue, where there’s always live entertainment. This is also where politicians invariably gather to deliver speeches from the stage. From there, the parade route continues another 800 metres east to Fraser Street before turning south 900 metres to East 57th Avenue. Then it moves east 550 metres to Ross Street. The final leg is an 850-metre walk south back to the temple. If 6.1 kilometres is too long, it’s easy to cut the walk at the halfway point at Main Street and East 49th Avenue and not remain to the end.

Keep in mind that the Vaisakhi parade won’t help participants lose weight if they partake in too much of the free vegetarian food that’s available along the route. In advance of the event, Sikh families prepare home-cooked meals, such as the leafy-green saag with makki di roti, usually with the best ingredients they can find. Much of this traditional north Indian fare is not available in restaurants, though dining establishments near the Punjabi Market also set up stalls to serve food for free.

This is one of the highlights, but people also shouldn’t lose sight of the parade’s educational value. I remember meeting two young men at the 2012 event, Bhupinder Singh and Karamjit Singh, who were both outfitted in the traditional blue robes of the Khalsa. It was formed as a military order to protect weaker people in Punjab, be they Sikhs or Hindus, from being forcibly converted to Islam by Mughal invaders at the end of the 17th century. They explained to me how the Khalsa was created when five brave Sikhs entered a tent and were prepared to be beheaded by Guru Gobind Singh. It turned out to be a test to see if they were ready to sacrifice their lives for the faith.

The two men also described how the five volunteers were inducted into the Khalsa, requiring them to keep the five Ks: kesh (uncut hair), kanga (a wooden comb), kara (a metal bracelet), kachera (a type of cotton underwear), and kirpan (a curved dagger). The five initial members of the Khalsa have been commemorated at the start of previous parades by five flag-bearing, turbaned men who marched slowly in front of a float carrying Sikhism’s central religious text, the Guru Granth Sahib.

“Guru Gobind Singh basically said we have to stand up for our rights, stand up for the rights of others, and said anybody has the freedom to practise their religion in any way they want,” Bhupinder Singh told me in 2012.

Similarly, anybody is welcome to take part in Vancouver’s Vaisakhi parade, regardless of their religious orientation, but they should realize that it’s a fairly lengthy walk.