YUBA CITY, Calif. — It was a long journey for thousands of families, but by car or airplane, the destination this weekend was the same-- the Sikh Temple in Yuba City.
"We all come together for the Yuba City Nagar Kirtan," said Barleen Jaswal whose family made the drive to Sutter County from Reno. "Just to come and connect with our culture and see how our religion makes us all connected, come closer."
The annual Yuba City Sikh festival is said to be the largest gathering of Sikh faithful outside of India. Day three of the festival Sunday will feature a parade.
"We traveled from Chicago, Illinois," said Karamjit Singh Grewal. "We've heard about it for a while now and we wanted to experience it ourselves... it doesn't matter what color you are, what race you are-- it's open to everyone so we wanted to experience that as well."
On any normal day, Yuba City has a population of about 70,000 but with coordinators expecting almost two times that number to visit the 3-day festival-- and with unverified threats of violence-- more security is on order.
"It's very crazy, especially for a religious gathering," said Jaswal. "It's very stupid to bring (threats) in this setting."
In a statement, the FBI says that despite the threats being unverified, they are working to make sure everyone stays safe—it's a message echoed by local law enforcement agencies with a visible presence around the event.
"Police, sheriff... the security is very good, and I see it today and all past years," said Barmjit Khaira, visiting from Sacramento. "Security is the number one thing."
Safety is a top priority, but for attendees from nearby and far, it's all about the journey.
"It's very good energy, very nice and just very calming," said Jaswal. "Even though they're trying to put us down, we are still here and supporting our culture and religion."
Watch more from ABC10: 45th annual Sikh Festival in Yuba City kicks off
