Quang Ngai to host Sea and Islands Cultural Week 2013

Launching replica boats carrying effigies of soldiers and sailors out to sea

Nhan Dan Online – The central coastal province of Quang Ngai will host Sea and Islands Cultural Week 2013 from April 25 to 29.

The four-day event will feature a cultural and sporting festival showcasing the coastal and island districts of the province, a programme introducing the culinary specialties of the region and a photography exhibition showing off the locality’s natural beauty.

A symposium on Vietnam’s legal and historical sovereignty over the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagoes is also being organised, along with an exhibition of historical documents, objects and maps confirming the facts.
The highlight of the festival will be a ceremony on Ly Son island on April 27-28 to pay tribute to the Hoang Sa Flotilla. This is an annual event held by the islanders at the An Vinh village communal house during the third lunar month to commemorate their ancestors who followed the King’s orders and left their homeland to protect the country’s Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos over the past three centuries.
This year’s ceremony will include a requiem for the dead, a procession, lantern releasing and a boat race, as well as the launching of 10 replica boats carrying effigies of soldiers and sailors out to sea.