State of Culture in Albania 2025 · Municipal profiles · Artivista Center (Qendra Artivista)
This profile is based on information provided by the Municipality of Divjakë 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) | Fier |
| Administrative units | 5: Divjakë, Grabian, Gradishtë, Remas, Tërbuf |
| Area | 309.58 km² |
| Population, 2023 Census | 24,882 (about 80.4 residents per km²); 27.4% fewer than in 2011 |
| Residents aged 65 and over | 22.1% (national average 19.7%) |
| Cultural institutions | Children's Cultural Centre (QKF), Divjakë (12 staff in 2025) |
| Culture programme in the budget plan | 13,945,000 lek in the revised 2025 budget; 13,365,000 lek a year for 2026 - 2028 |
| Activities reported | 31 cultural performances, 6 financed artistic shows and 87 sports events |
| Projects in preparation | Restoration of a cultural centre in Tërbuf; amphitheatre at the school in Babunjë |
Summary
Divjakë, on the coast of Fier region and home to the Divjakë-Karavasta National Park, delivers its cultural life through a single institution, the Children's Cultural Centre (QKF), located opposite Santa Barbara Square, with 12 staff in 2025. The Centre runs both cultural and sports activities: the municipality reports 31 cultural performances and 6 financed artistic shows, alongside 87 sports events such as football and volleyball matches for young people.
The municipality's medium term budget plans (PBA) set the culture programme at 13,365,000 lek in the initial 2025 budget, 13,945,000 lek in the revised budget, and 13,365,000 lek a year for the period 2026 - 2028, of which two thirds are for staff. The municipality's reply, however, gives a different figure, an approved culture budget of 20,746,000 lek, without stating the year, of which 2,651,360 lek had been spent on salaries and insurance at the time of the reply.
Divjakë lost 27.4% of its residents between 2011 and 2023, and more than one in five residents is aged 65 or over. It has no culture strategy and held no public consultation on culture during the period 2020 - 2025. The municipality has, however, started two projects that would bring cultural spaces outside the town, in Tërbuf and Gradishtë, and states that it is preparing action plans for culture that it will publish on its website.
1. Governance and institutions
The Children's Cultural Centre (QKF) is the only cultural institution of the municipality. It works in three areas, art, sport and science and technology, and its annual plan, approved by the Director of Culture, Sport and Tourism, names instructors for dance, singing, drawing, football and creative activities. The Centre's work is closely tied to schools, which explains why sports activities take up a large part of its programme.
2. Funding
The budget plans give a stable picture of the culture programme. In the initial budget for 2025 it was set at 13,365,000 lek and raised to 13,945,000 lek in the revised budget; for each year of the period 2026 - 2028 it is planned at 13,365,000 lek, of which 8,878,000 lek are for staff and 4,487,000 lek for other running costs, with no investment.
The municipality's reply gives an approved culture budget of 20,746,000 lek, a figure about 50% higher than the budget plans, and states that 2,651,360 lek of it had been spent, on salaries and insurance only. The reply does not say which year this budget refers to, or whether it includes items outside the culture programme. The difference between the two sources therefore remains unexplained. The budget plans also foresee a small income from fees of culture and sport institutions, 100,000 lek in 2026.
3. Cultural programme
The Centre follows an annual calendar of celebrations and events: City Day on 20 January, a chess championship between schools, the festive concert for Teachers' Day and Mothers' Day in March, Summer Day, International Book Day, the Easter concert, the commemoration of Aristidh Kola, the opening of the tourist season in May, the event “Vjeshta e Legjendave” and the Takije feast in August, Pink October for breast cancer awareness, Flag and Independence Day in November, and concerts for Christmas and the New Year.
Sports take an even larger place in the programme, with 87 events reported: training sessions and championship matches for the U11 and U13 teams, a volleyball team and friendly matches with schools and with teams from Lushnjë. The venues used for culture are few: Santa Barbara Square, the Centre itself and the Kulla 360 tower, used for the opening of the tourist season and some concerts.
4. Heritage
No restoration or repair of heritage sites took place during the period 2020 - 2025. Two projects are in preparation. The municipality has applied to the National Youth Agency for funds to restore and maintain the cultural centre in the administrative unit of Tërbuf, and was awaiting a decision at the time of the reply. In Babunjë, in the administrative unit of Gradishtë, an amphitheatre for artistic performances is planned in the outdoor area of the school under reconstruction.
5. Staff
The Centre had 10 staff in each of the years 2020, 2021 and 2022, 12 in 2023, 11 in 2024 and 12 in 2025.
6. Planning and public participation
The only planning document for culture is the Centre's annual plan, and no public consultation on culture or heritage was held during the period 2020 - 2025. The municipality states that it is preparing action plans and projects for the development of culture and that it will publish them on its official website.
7. Culture across the municipality
Cultural activity is concentrated in the town of Divjakë. The one investment reported outside the town is a football field in Tërbuf, financed with 3,065,634 lek from the Albanian Football Federation and 2,000,000 lek from the municipality's own income. If completed, the cultural centre in Tërbuf and the amphitheatre in Babunjë would bring cultural spaces to two of the four administrative units outside the town.
8. National and European context
Under the National Tourism Strategy 2024 - 2030, Fier region, including Divjakë, belongs to the Adriatic Coast cluster. Divjakë is not among the cultural attractions named for the cluster, but its national park, its lagoon and the Kulla 360 tower already attract visitors. The municipality's tourism sector earns regular income from the tower and from boat trips, while the Cultural Centre earns almost none; linking cultural events more closely to these visitors could benefit both.
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 Divjakë has used these instruments for culture.
9. Key findings
- Culture is delivered by one institution, the Children's Cultural Centre, with 12 staff in 2025.
- The budget plans set the culture programme at 13.4 to 13.9 million lek a year, while the municipality's reply gives an approved budget of 20,746,000 lek, without stating the year.
- Sports events (87) outnumber cultural performances (31) and financed artistic shows (6).
- No heritage restoration took place; a cultural centre in Tërbuf and an amphitheatre in Babunjë are in preparation.
- There is no culture strategy and no public consultation on culture; the municipality says it is preparing action plans.
- The population fell by 27.4% between 2011 and 2023.
10. Recommendations
Explain the culture budget
The reply's figure of 20,746,000 lek and the budget plans' 13.4 to 13.9 million lek cannot both describe the same budget. The finance directorate could publish a short note explaining what the reply's figure covers and which year it refers to, and from then on report the planned and actual culture budget each year in the same way as the budget plans.
Publish the promised action plans
The municipality has committed to publishing action plans for culture on its website. Doing so, after at least one public meeting with residents, parents and schools, would give the Centre a clear direction and hold the first public consultation on culture in the period.
Balance culture and sport in the Centre's programme
The Centre's sports programme is much larger than its cultural one. Without reducing sport, the Centre could set a target for cultural activities each year, for example in music, theatre and reading, and report the number of participants, so that culture has its own place in the programme.
Complete the projects outside the town
The cultural centre in Tërbuf and the amphitheatre in Babunjë would be the first cultural spaces outside the town. The municipality could publish their timelines and costs, and plan in advance the activities they will host, so that the new spaces are used from the start.
Link culture with tourism
Divjakë's visitors come for the national park, the lagoon and the Kulla 360 tower. The Centre could organise summer cultural events at these places, in cooperation with the tourism sector, and keep part of the income for its programme. Such a project would also be a good basis for an application to EU programmes such as IPA and EU4Culture.
About the data
Population figures come from the INSTAT 2023 Census. The approved budget and activities are as reported by the municipality; programme figures come from the tables of its medium term budget plan (PBA) for 2026 - 2028 and its draft budget for 2026, published by the municipality.
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.
