VANCOUVER -- Organizers of the Surrey Vaisakhi Khalsa Parade have announced the event has been cancelled over concerns about COVID-19.

The parade, which is said to draw more than 500,000 attendees annually, was scheduled for April 25.

Gurdwara Sahib Dasmesh Darbar, the group behind the annual event, issued a statement Thursday saying organizers made the difficult decision to cancel until "further notice or a significant change in the transmission of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic."

The decision came after consulting with health officials including the Fraser Health Authority, the BC Centre for Disease Control and the Ministry of Health, according to organizers, who said they believed it was the safest way to proceed.