Addressing the closing ceremony, Deputy Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Le Quang Thich said the festival is held annually to preserve and uphold tangible and intangible cultural heritages unique to Quang Ngai.
He highlighted the success of events like an international seminar on sovereignty over Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagoes, photo and painting exhibitions, folk games and music performances.
On the occasion, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism granted certificates recognising the festival as part of the nation’s intangible heritage and the An Vinh communal temple as a national historical site.
According to Vietnam ’s feudal state history, the Hoang Sa Flotilla was set up when the Nguyen Lords began their reign in the south of the country. Thousands of sailors overcame roaring waves and storms to survey sea routes, plant markers and erect steles affirming national territory in Hoang Sa and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos, and mine marine resources ordered by Nguyen Lords. Their missions were full of dangers, and many of them never returned to land.
To pay tribute to the men enlisted in the flotilla, the festival has been observed for hundreds of years by families on Ly Son islands and in Quang Ngai coastal areas.
