A large chunk of what is now the western Slovenian region of Primorsko was ceded by Italy to the former Yugoslavia under the Paris Peace Treaty, which took effect on 15 September 1947. The date is observed as national holiday in Slovenia since 2006.

This year the ceremony will also mark other anniversaries important to the people of Primorsko, including the 70th anniversary of the establishment of Corpus IX and the Overseas Brigades.

After the Fascist Italy capitulated in September 1943, young men from Primorsko, who had been called up to fight for Italy in Africa and in southern Italy, joined an overseas brigade and came to help liberate their homeland. The brigades numbered 27,000 in total.

The same year Partisan teachers in the region started teaching children in their mother tongue after having to conduct classes in Italian for 23 years, according to the head of the committee organising the ceremony, Bojan Pahor.