COLOURFUL celebrations will be held across Hampshire in the coming days for the Sikh Vaisakhi festival.

Thousands of people are expected to take part in various events to mark the birth of the religion.

Special ceremonies will take place at Southampton's four Gurdwara temples over three days, from Monday.

They will include readings of the Sikh holy book, the Guru Granth Sahib, and flags being raised above the buildings.

Celebrations will culminate in a crescendo of noise and colour when thousands of people take to the inner city's streets for the Nagar Kirtan procession next Sunday.

The parade will see drummers and floats lead the way over the four-hour march.

Organisers have urged communities from all backgrounds to join in with the festivities.

Community rep John Roath said: "It's a festival that celebrates equality, human rights, peace and the importance of helping others.

"There is an open invitation to people in and around Southampton to come and join in the celebrations, especially in light of what is happening in the world.

"Southampton is privileged to have a diversity of cultures."

A flag-raising ceremony will take place ahead of the procession outside the Civic Centre, featuring Sikh and city council leaders.

This year's Vaisakhi is the 305th and goes back to 1699 in Anandpur Sahib in India when people from across the country were invited to be addressed by the tenth Guru of the Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh Ji.

It celebrates the creation of the Khalsa, in which the tenth guru baptised the first Sikhs to become the five beloved ones.