(VNA) - The central province of Quang Ngai has completed a dossier on a traditional ceremony commemorating the sailors of the Hoang Sa (Paracel) Flotilla, in an effort to seek recognition of the ceremony as a national intangible cultural heritage.

The Hoang Sa Soldier Feast and Commemoration Festival        Source: VNA

The Hoang Sa Soldier Feast and Commemoration Festival has been observed for hundreds of years by families in the Ly Son islands to pay tribute to local men enlisted in the Hoang Sa Flotilla to patrol the Hoang Sa and Truong Sa archipelagos, mine natural resources, and defend Vietnam’s sovereignty over the islands. This year, the festival will, for the first time, be organised at the provincial level, together with the 2013 Quang Ngai Sea and Island Cultural Week by the end of this month.