State of Culture in Albania 2025 · Municipal profiles · Artivista Center (Qendra Artivista)
This profile is based on information provided by the Municipality of Dibër in reply to Artivista's request for information on culture (2026), the municipality's medium term budget plans (PBA), and INSTAT's 2023 Population and Housing Census. Amounts are in Albanian lek.
At a glance
| Region (qark) | Dibër |
| Administrative units | 15, with Peshkopi as the centre |
| Area | 937.88 km² |
| Population, 2023 Census | 50,775 (about 54.1 residents per km²); 17.6% fewer than in 2011 |
| Residents aged 65 and over | 14.9% (national average 19.7%) |
| Cultural institutions | Palace of Culture “Haki Stërmilli”, City Museum, City Library (Peshkopi), Kastrioti Museum (Sinë); 23 staff |
| Annual activity budget | 4,200,000 lek for 14 named activities |
| Culture programme in the budget plan | 28,637,000 lek spent in 2023; 21,888,000 lek planned for 2026 |
| Heritage investment | City Library rebuilt as a multifunctional centre in 2023: 8,241,690 lek |
Summary
Dibër, which covers almost 938 km² across 15 administrative units, has a broader cultural network than most of the municipalities reviewed so far. Culture is delivered by four institutions, the Palace of Culture “Haki Stërmilli”, the City Museum and the City Library in Peshkopi, and the Kastrioti Museum in the village of Sinë, with 23 staff in total. According to the municipality, about 90 cultural activities have been organised since 2020, and the annual calendar of the Palace of Culture includes 14 named concerts, festivals and celebrations, with a budget of 4,200,000 lek.
The full cost of culture is considerably higher than this activity budget. The municipality's medium term budget plans (PBA) show that the culture programme, which covers the staff and running costs of all four institutions, spent 22,236,000 lek in 2022 and 28,637,000 lek in 2023, and is planned at 21.9 to 25.4 million lek a year in the period 2025 - 2028. In 2023 the City Library was rebuilt as a multifunctional centre at a cost of 8,241,690 lek.
Dibër has no culture strategy, held no public consultation on culture during the period 2020 - 2025 and earns no income from its cultural institutions. These gaps matter in a municipality that lost 17.6% of its residents between 2011 and 2023, spread over 15 administrative units, but whose population is younger than the national average: a clear plan could help keep young people engaged and connected to the area.
1. Governance and institutions
Dibër has four cultural institutions with complementary roles. The Palace of Culture “Haki Stërmilli” in Peshkopi is the main venue and organises the annual calendar of concerts and festivals. The City Museum and the City Library, both in Peshkopi, look after the area's history and its book collections, while the Kastrioti Museum in Sinë is linked to the heritage of the Kastrioti family. Together they give Dibër a solid institutional base for culture, although the municipality's reply does not describe a directorate that coordinates them.
2. Funding
The municipality's reply gives an annual budget of 4,200,000 lek for the activities of the Palace of Culture, itemised across 14 activities whose costs add up exactly to the total. The largest items are the artistic event “Tinguj Pavarësie” (500,000 lek) and five concerts and festivals of 400,000 lek each. The reply does not state the year, but the same 14 activities are listed as the calendar for 2026.
This figure covers only the activities. The medium term budget plans show the cost of the whole culture programme, including the salaries and running costs of the four institutions. Actual spending was 22,236,000 lek in 2022 and 28,637,000 lek in 2023, the year of the library reconstruction. For 2024 the revised budget was 21,688,000 lek, and the final plan for 2025 - 2027 foresees 25,388,000 lek for 2025, 21,888,000 lek for 2026 and 22,488,000 lek for 2027. The plan for 2026 - 2028 repeats exactly the figures for 2026 and 2027 and adds 22,684,000 lek for 2028, which shows consistent planning from one cycle to the next.
3. Cultural programme
The calendar is built around a recurring core of events: the artistic event “Tinguj Pavarësie”, a summer concert, the premiere of the ensemble, the feast of Shën Gjergji, the concerts “Dibra n'Fest”, “Dibra Fest-ON” and “Yjet n'Dibër”, the festival “Oda Dibrane”, a November concert and two concerts “I këndoj qytetit tim”. Around this core, each year brings changes: theatre performances for children such as “Bizelja Magjike” in 2023, “Shh, Mbaje Sekret” in 2024 and “Borëbardha” in 2025, a Youth Festival, a children's concert and participation in festivals outside the municipality, in Gjirokastër, Tirana and Lezhë.
The lists provided by the municipality name 24 activities for 2023, 20 for 2024 and 20 for 2025, and 14 costed activities for 2026. Activities take place at the Palace of Culture, the City Museum, the City Library, the Kastrioti Museum in Sinë and the pedestrian area of Peshkopi.
4. Heritage
The main heritage investment of the period was the reconstruction of the City Library in 2023, which turned it into a multifunctional centre at a cost of 8,241,690 lek. No other restoration or rehabilitation of heritage sites was reported for the period 2020 - 2025. With two museums, one of them in Sinë, Dibër has a heritage base that could be presented more actively to residents and visitors.
5. Staff
Staff numbers have been stable, with a slight decline: 25 people in 2020 and 2021, 24 in the period 2022 - 2025 and 23 in 2026, across the four institutions.
6. Planning and public participation
The municipality has no strategy, local plan or policy document for culture, and no strategy, action plan or project for culture, creative industries or heritage is in progress. No public consultation on culture was held during the period 2020 - 2025. With an annual calendar already in place, a written plan would help link the programme to the needs of different parts of the municipality and to the use of the renovated library.
7. Culture across the municipality
According to the municipality, activities take place in Peshkopi and in several other administrative units, including Lurë, Zall-Dardhë, Kastriot, Fushë-Çidhën, Maqellarë, Sllovë and Selishtë, where the calendar includes local celebrations such as the feast in Lurë and the event “O mirë se na erdhe” in Zall-Dardhë. The reply does not give the number of activities by unit, so it is not possible to see how evenly the programme reaches the 15 administrative units.
8. National and European context
Under the National Tourism Strategy 2024 - 2030, Dibër region belongs to the Northern Inland cluster, where the main tourism products are nature, outdoor activities and agrotourism, while culture is a secondary product. Dibër is not among the attractions named for the cluster. Its museums, its music tradition and its village celebrations could complement the region's nature tourism if they were promoted together.
As an EU candidate country, Albania has access to EU support for culture through the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) and the EU4Culture programme. No evidence was found that Dibër has used these instruments; the library reconstruction appears to have been financed by the municipality.
9. Key findings
- Four cultural institutions with 23 staff deliver an annual calendar of concerts, festivals and celebrations; about 90 activities have been organised since 2020.
- The activity budget of 4,200,000 lek is fully itemised, but the full culture programme costs 21.9 to 25.4 million lek a year according to the budget plans.
- The culture programme figures for 2026 and 2027 are identical in two successive budget plans, a sign of consistent planning.
- The City Library was rebuilt as a multifunctional centre in 2023, at a cost of 8,241,690 lek.
- There is no culture strategy, no public consultation on culture and no income from culture.
- The population fell by 17.6% between 2011 and 2023, but remains younger than the national average.
10. Recommendations
Publish the full cost of culture
The municipality reports the activity budget in detail, but not the full cost of the culture programme. The finance directorate could publish each year, alongside the activity calendar, the planned and actual budget of the programme for each of the four institutions. This would show residents the full public investment in culture and how it is divided between staff, buildings and activities.
Prepare a culture strategy with residents
Dibër has the institutions and the calendar, but not a written plan. The Palace of Culture, together with the museums and the library, could prepare a culture strategy for the next three years that sets priorities for young people, for the villages and for the use of the renovated library. Discussing the draft in public meetings in Peshkopi and in some of the administrative units would hold the municipality's first public consultation on culture.
Make the museums more visible
The City Museum and the Kastrioti Museum in Sinë are an important resource. The municipality could develop school visits, a small annual exhibition and joint promotion with the region's nature tourism. A modest fee for visitors from outside the municipality could provide the first income from culture, to be reinvested in the museums.
Report activities by administrative unit
Dibër covers almost 938 km² and 15 administrative units. The Palace of Culture could record where each activity takes place and aim for at least one event a year in each unit. This would show whether the programme reaches the whole municipality and help plan where it is most needed.
Seek external support for heritage
For larger heritage works and programmes, the municipality could prepare applications to EU programmes such as IPA and EU4Culture, starting with one concrete project, for example the programme of the renovated library or of the Kastrioti Museum, in partnership with a cultural organisation.
About the data
Population figures come from the INSTAT 2023 Census. The activity budget is as reported by the municipality; programme figures come from the final budget ceilings for 2025 - 2027 and the preparatory ceilings for 2026 - 2028.
Every effort has been made to base this analysis on the data provided by the municipality, complemented with data from its Medium Term Budget Programmes (PBA) published online. For comments or questions, please contact artivista@arti-vista.org.
This article was prepared within the CulturAL project, with the financial support of the European Union. Its contents are the sole responsibility of the National Centre for Community Services and Artivista Center and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.
