It's a wild spectacle. Pounding. Leaping. Dancing. Singing. Crazy coloured costumes. Stunts and tricks. All making up the extravagant musical and dance form called modern Bhangra.

Its origins are in the harvest fields of the Punjab.

Now it's known as the hiphop of India.

And this week, you could be excused for thinking it's the official art form of Vancouver.

Posters are plastered on every telephone pole, every bulletin board, announcing two big events: the City of Bhangra Festival and the Museum of Vancouver's Bhangra.Me exhibition. One poster image? An Indian man in a hot pink turban, with a dohl drum around his neck, a black guy wearing headphones, a white woman playing the Iktar, an ancient South Asian instrument. "We are Bhangra" the poster says.

Vancouver, it turns out, is an international Bhangra hub. There is history. There are shows. There are champion teams. And Simon Fraser University, with its first-ever university credit course in Bhangra.