Many Armenians from Turkey and abroad attended this year's service. Those who wanted to reach the island sailed to the lake early in the morning by boats from the island pier in Gevaş district or by sea buses from the nearby marina.

Armenian Patriarch of Constantinople Sahak II Mashalian, his deputy Father Kaspar Garabetyan and Senior Father Drtad Uzunyan attended the service. Uzunyan conducted the Divine Liturgy at the 1100-year-old cathedral.

While there was a high turnout for the service on the island, no one from the provincial administration attended the service.

Van Metropolitan Municipality increased the number of sea bus services for the mass.

Due to the small size of the church, a limited number of visitors were allowed inside. Press were also able to follow the service in rotation.