| Main Performers | Mr P N Haksar (Chairman),
Right Honourable Lord Sorensen of Leyton,
Mr Arnold Smith (Secretary General, Commonwealth Association),
Professor Hugh Tinker,
Sardar Khushwant Singh (historian),
Bhai Pritam Singh,
Singh Sahib Giani Bhupinder Singh Ji,
Tara Singh Saund,
Bhai Sohan Singh,
Pamela Wylam,
Mr J P Singh (Central Committee of British Sikhs) - speakers
Elaine Delmar,
Sohan Singh,
Mohan Singh,
Babli Chhatwal,
Tarlochan Sukhija - vocals,
Mohinder Singh,
Tabla Singh,
Mohan Singh - violins |
| Orchestra or Band | John Mayer Ensemble (John Mayer - violin, Chris Taylor - flute, Pat Smythe - piano, Diwan Motihar - sitar, Keshav Sathe - tabla, Coleridge Goode - bass, Allan Ganley - drums)
Sehmi Brothers
Bharj Brothers |
| Set List | 'Mur Pat Poorab Keeyas Payana' (Sohan Singh),
'Mitar Pyare Noon' (Dearest Lord), John Mayer (Sehmi Brothers, John Mayer Ensemble, Elaine Delmar),
'Rai Man Aiso Kar Saniasa' (Mohan Singh, Mohinder Singh),
'Dadi Jatha' (Bhai Pritam Singh),
'Ab Mai Apni Katha Bakhano' (Babli Chhatwal, Tarlochan Sukhija),
'Deh Shiva Bar Mohe Ihai' (The Guru's Prayer) (Bharj Brothers, John Mayer, John Mayer Ensemble, Elaine Delmar),
'God Save the Queen' (The National Anthem),
'Indian National Anthem' |
| Performance Notes | Sikh warriors were flown from India to appear in full seventeenth century armour as the centre-piece of the festival. More than 5,000 men and women from 38 Sikh temples in Britain attended. Among Sikh attendees was a group of former British army officers who served with Sikh regiments in the two world wars.
A large colour picture of Guru Gobind Singh was hung above the organ console.
"...One member of the festival organising committee was Mrs Pamela Wylam, a Greenwich housewife, who was baptised into the Sikh faith last year by Sant Fateh Singh, the Sikh leader. She has taken the Sikh name of Shrimati Manjit Kaur.
..Sikh religious cries greeted Sardar Khushwant Singh, a Sikh historian, who brought greetings to the festival from the Sikhs in India.
Speaking in excellent English, he said:..."If you wish to earn respect from the British people, do not believe that you will get it by trying to ape them in appearance, speech or manner of living. You will achieve it only by being better citizens and more loyal to Britain than the British themselves.
"Your children must imbibe the teachings of Guru Gobind Singh so they can say with pride: 'I am a Sikh and an Englishman.'"
The Sikhs at the destival unanimously passed a surprise resolution "deploring the intentions of the British Government to impose special fees on foreign students, which would cause much hardship to Indian and Asian students."
(The Daily Telegraph, 28 January 1967) |
| Related Archival Material | Programme (RAHE/1/1967/12) |