State of Culture in Albania 2025 · Municipal profiles · Artivista Center (Qendra Artivista)
This profile is based on information provided by the Municipality of Fier 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 | 10: Fier, Cakran, Dërmenas, Frakull, Levan, Libofshë, Mbrostar Ura, Portëz, Qendër, Topojë |
| Area | 620.83 km² |
| Population, 2023 Census | 101,963 (about 164 residents per km²); about 15.5% fewer than in 2011 |
| Residents aged 65 and over | 24.1% (national average 19.7%) |
| Culture budget | Planned 107,537,000 lek and spent 102,177,973 lek in 2025 |
| Share of the budget spent | 79.8% in 2020, then 93.1% to 98.8% a year |
| Cultural institutions | Art Gallery, Museum, Library “Dritëro Agolli”, Theatre “Bylis”, Centre of Cultural Activities (QAK) |
| Staff | 43 at the end of 2025 (55 in the period 2022 - 2024) |
Summary
Fier keeps some of the most complete records of culture in this series. Its Directorate of Art, Culture and Tourism manages five institutions, a gallery, a museum, a library, a theatre and a centre for children's activities, and reports their budget, staff, projects and even theatre ticket sales year by year.
During the period 2020 - 2025 the culture budget almost doubled, from 52.9 million lek spent in 2020 to 102.2 million lek in 2025, and from 2021 the municipality spent between 93.1% and 98.8% of what it planned. The number of projects grew from 27 in 2021 to 60 in 2024, before falling to 36 in 2025, a year in which the theatre also commissioned 11 productions worth 10.9 million lek. Theatre tickets rose from 155 in 2020 to 3,650 in 2025.
Fier is also home to Apollonia, one of the largest archaeological parks in Albania and a candidate for the UNESCO World Heritage List. The municipality's own budget plan acknowledges that the park has lacked a management plan for years, which has left projects uncoordinated. There is no strategy for culture, and the records do not show public consultations or activities outside the city.
1. Governance and institutions
Culture is managed by the Directorate of Art, Culture and Tourism, which plans and monitors all artistic, historical and literary activities. It oversees five institutions in the city of Fier: the Art Gallery in the central park, the Museum, the Library “Dritëro Agolli”, the Theatre “Bylis” and the Centre of Cultural Activities, which develops children's talents in art and sport. In the budget and project tables the latter appears as QKF, the Children's Cultural Centre.
2. Funding
The culture budget rose from 66,325,000 lek planned and 52,905,467 lek spent in 2020 to 107,537,000 lek planned and 102,177,973 lek spent in 2025, and 111,072,891 lek is planned for 2026. After the pandemic year of 2020, when 79.8% of the budget was spent, execution stayed between 93.1% and 98.8%. Salaries and insurance take about half of the budget and activities and operating costs most of the rest, while investment in equipment was planned at 500,000 lek a year in 2022, 2024 and 2025.
3. Cultural programme
The Directorate's annual tables list every project with its cost and number of beneficiaries. There were 27 projects in 2021, 52 in 2022, 51 in 2023, 60 in 2024 and 36 in 2025, and beneficiaries rose from 16,390 in 2021 to 52,520 in 2024. Recurring events include the song marathon “Këngë Moj”, the Friendship Festival, the Wheat Festival, “Fieri feston Nëntorin”, the international photography award “Fokus”, the Apollonia Poetic and Jazz Night and the programme of the folk ensemble Myzeqeja. In 2025 the theatre also commissioned 11 productions from directors and companies, worth 10,900,000 lek.
Fier is one of the few municipalities that reports theatre ticket sales. During the period 2020 - 2025 the Theatre “Bylis” sold 10,125 tickets for 2,981,700 lek, rising from 155 tickets in 2020 to 3,650 tickets and 1,535,200 lek in 2025.
4. Heritage
The Apollonia Archaeological Park covers 81 hectares near the village of Pojan. Founded around 600 BC, it is the largest archaeological park in the western lowlands and has been proposed for the UNESCO World Heritage List. The municipality's budget plan for 2025 - 2027 states that the lack of a management plan has led to projects that were not coordinated and sometimes overlapped, and that the road between the Fier bypass and the park is still undecided, even as EU funded restorations take place. Another 17 first category monuments are found in the municipality, among them churches in Vanaj, Libofshë, Kolkondas and Hoxharë, a Roman villa in Plyk and the Monastery of St Mary in Pojan. No municipal restoration spending for them is reported.
5. Staff
The Directorate had 35 staff in 2021, against 41 planned, and 55 in each year of the period 2022 - 2024, against 57 to 59 planned. In October 2025 a reorganisation moved 14 guards to the municipality and created posts for four activity coordinators, a support coordinator, an archivist and a human resources specialist, leaving 43 staff against 47 planned. The Gallery, Museum and Library work at full strength; the vacancies are mainly at the Theatre “Bylis”, which has lacked a director and an actor in every year.
6. Planning and public participation
The records do not include a strategy or action plan for culture, nor information on public consultations about culture. The clearest planning gap identified by the municipality itself concerns Apollonia, where a coordinated management plan is still missing.
7. Culture across the municipality
All five institutions are in the city of Fier and most projects take place there. A few involve travel to festivals elsewhere, such as the folklore festival in Gjirokastër, or represent Fier at tourism fairs. The records do not show activities in the other nine administrative units, including Qendër, where Apollonia lies.
Conclusions
- Fier reports complete yearly data on budget, staff, projects and theatre tickets for its five cultural institutions.
- The culture budget almost doubled during the period 2020 - 2025, and from 2021 more than 93% of it was spent each year.
- Projects grew from 27 in 2021 to 60 in 2024 and theatre tickets from 155 in 2020 to 3,650 in 2025.
- Apollonia, a candidate for the UNESCO World Heritage List, still lacks a coordinated management plan.
- There is no culture strategy, and activities in the nine administrative units outside the city are not documented.
Recommendations
Prepare a management plan for Apollonia
The municipality could work with the Ministry, the National Institute of Cultural Heritage and the EU funded projects to prepare a joint management plan for the park, covering restoration, visitor access, the road from the Fier bypass and events, and present it for public consultation.
Write a culture strategy on the basis of the data
Few municipalities know as much about their cultural sector as Fier. The Directorate could use its yearly tables to prepare a culture strategy for 2026 - 2030 with targets for audiences, projects and income, and consult artists and residents on it.
Take the programme to the villages
Almost all activity is in the city. The Directorate could plan a small number of events each year in the administrative units, starting with Qendër near Apollonia, and report beneficiaries by unit.
Fill the gaps at the theatre
The Theatre “Bylis” has had vacancies for a director and an actor every year. Filling them, or planning co-productions on a multi-year basis, would build on the strong growth in ticket sales.
Use one name for the children's centre
The centre appears as QAK in the staffing records and as QKF in the budget and in the budget plan. Using one name in all documents would make reporting clearer.
About the data
Population figures come from the INSTAT 2023 Census. Budget, staff, project and ticket figures are as reported by the Directorate of Art, Culture and Tourism. Information on Apollonia, the monuments and the children's centre comes from the municipality's medium term budget plan (PBA) for 2025 - 2027.
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.
