February 15: Sikh Heritage to Be Celebrated as San Jose Sharks Compete Against Vancouver Canucks
Posted: 10 Jan 2018 11:08 AM PST

SAN JOSE, California, USA—In April 2014, the Sacramento Kings hosted their first “Kaurs Singhs and Kings” to celebrate Sikh Heritage. Since then, the NBA has hosted various Sikh Heritage Nights to raise awareness of the Sikh identity and Punjabi culture.
As part of this year’s Sikh heritage celebration, NHL’s San Jose Sharks will compete against Vancouver Canucks on February 15, 2018. San Jose Sharks held a Sikh Heritage Night last year in March 2017, and the event was sold out.
K3 International, a group which has been promoting South Asian Culture on the Main Stage for over 3 decades began the initiative to celebrate for Sikh Heritage under the banner “Kaurs Singhs and “in partnership with the Major US and Canadian Sports franchises.
The first event was on April 13 th 2014, the Sacramento Kings held the first ever Sikh Heritage Night – Kaurs Singhs and Kings with pre-Game and halftime Punjabi Folk Dances.
Since this first Sikh Heritage event, K3 International has partnered with Detroit Pistons, Phoenix Suns, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, San Antonio Stars, San Jose Sharks. This collaborative project with USA and Canadian Sports Franchises began following a survey of Sikh Americans published in 2006 by Harvard University which revealed that 83 percent of Sikh respondents either personally experienced or knew someone who experienced a hate crime or hate incident on account of their religion.
Young Sikh children also experience a disproportionate amount of hate crimes, because of their appearance.