Baljinder Singh and Ranjit Singh will be showing people how to tie a turban at Turban Day on the Tauranga Waterfront on Saturday. Photo / Rosalie Liddle Crawford
Baljinder Singh and Ranjit Singh will be showing people how to tie a turban at Turban Day on the Tauranga Waterfront on Saturday. Photo / Rosalie Liddle Crawford
Tauranga’s Turban Day this weekend invites locals to experience the vibrant traditions of Sikh culture, and even try on a turban themselves.
From 11am to 2pm on Saturday, the Tauranga Waterfront will be transformed into a lively cultural hub celebrating diversity, inclusion, and community connection.
Visitors can learn how totie a turban, discover the meaning behind it, enjoy live music, and sample freshly prepared vegetarian food.
Turban Day offers a hands-on opportunity to explore the significance of the dastar — the Sikh turban — which holds deep spiritual and cultural meaning.
Participants could choose from an array of 5-metre turbans in vibrant colours, with experts on hand to demonstrate how to tie them, a process that typically takes five to 10 minutes.
Gurudwara Sikh Sangat Tauranga president Puran Singh said the turban was what set Sikh people apart.
“In Sikh culture, we’re taught to help those in need, show kindness, and uphold strong moral values. When you see a turban, you see those principles in action.”
The Sikh community in New Zealand ran events like this to foster understanding and appreciation of Sikhism’s core belief in equality.
Baljinder Singh and Ranjit Singh. Photo / Rosalie Liddle Crawford
Gurudwara Sikh Sangat member Ranjit Singh said everyone was welcome to attend the event.
Ranjit Singh said the event was run by their organisation, together with the Bay of Plenty Sports and Culture Club, and Tauranga Sikh Sangat. It was also supported by Tauranga City Council, the Ministry for Ethnic Communities, and the Western Bay of Plenty District Council.
For sikhs, wearing a turban was part of religious observance tied to the five articles of faith: uncut hair (kesh), a wooden comb (kanga), an iron bracelet (kara), cotton undergarments (kachera), and a small, curved sword (kirpan). Each represented a commitment to living with integrity, discipline, and devotion.
The event would also feature free, freshly cooked vegetarian meals prepared by volunteers from the local Gurdwara in Burrows St, in keeping with the Sikh tradition of langar — a shared community meal open to all.
“We cherish the act of sharing food,” Puran said.
“While we usually serve free meals at the temple, we’re excited to bring that spirit to the waterfront. Everyone is welcome to come, learn, and try on a turban.”
Turban Day
Turban Day began in New York as a grassroots effort to share the beauty and symbolism of the turban.
The event gained global attention in 2018 when more than 9000 turbans were tied in Times Square – a world record.
Since then, it has become a celebrated annual tradition in many countries, including New Zealand, where Auckland hosted its first Turban Day in 2016.
