The announcement came from the head of the organization’s cultural heritage, tourism, and handicrafts department, Azadeh Abedinzadeh, who emphasized the festival’s role in preserving local identity and promoting eco-conscious tourism.

The festival, which began on September 11 with a different approach and more diverse content, will continue until October 22, Abedinzadeh told IRNA on Saturday. She said the event is being organized through synergy between the local community, tourism activists, and cultural and media figures.

Abedinzadeh described “Nowruz-e Darya” as a shared cultural heritage of Persian Gulf coastal inhabitants and an ancient ritual among seafaring communities in southern Iran.

“From ancient times to the present, the people living on the coasts of the Persian Gulf, especially the residents of the global island of Qeshm, have used a unique maritime calendar,” Abedinzadeh said. This calendar, she explained, has regulated their livelihood and lifestyle in harmony with the nature and maritime climate of the region.

She emphasized that the festival’s approach benefits local communities and contributes to sustainable development at a regional and global level “without harming the environment and the indigenous culture of the region.”

Abedinzadeh also noted that the twentieth edition of the festival is one of the area’s most successful summer events for attracting tourists and building the brand of Qeshm Island in domestic public opinion. She added that the event has been held dynamically every summer since the early 2000s, with a break during the COVID-19 pandemic years.