State of Culture in Albania 2025 · Municipal profiles · Artivista Center (Qendra Artivista)
This profile is based on information provided by the Municipality of Gjirokastër 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) | Gjirokastër |
| Administrative units | 7: Gjirokastër, Cepo, Lazarat, Picar, Lunxhëri, Odrie, Antigonë |
| Area | 469.25 km² |
| Population, 2023 Census | 23,270 (about 50 residents per km²); 8.0% fewer than in 2011 |
| Residents aged 65 and over | 24.4% (national average 19.7%) |
| Cultural institutions | Agency for Activities and Tourism, Cinema, Theatre, Sports Palace |
| Staff | From 10 in 2020 to 54 in 2024 and 28 in 2025 |
| Events in the municipal calendars | 74 (2023), 113 planned (2024), 103 (2025) |
| Culture and sport investment | 279.6 million lek in 7 projects, 2020 - 2025 |
Summary
Gjirokastër, a UNESCO World Heritage city since 2005, runs one of the busiest cultural calendars in this series. The municipality's annual calendars, attached to its reply, list 74 events in 2023, 113 planned events in 2024 and 103 events in 2025, from theatre and polyphony to festivals in the old bazaar and in the villages of Lunxhëri and Antigonë.
Culture is managed together with tourism and sport by the Agency for Activities and Tourism, alongside the cinema, the theatre and the Sports Palace. Staff in these structures grew from 10 in 2020 to 54 in 2024, before falling to 28 in 2025. Over the same period the municipality reported large investments in its historic centre: about 1.09 billion lek in urban and heritage works in 2022 - 2024, including the castle and Çerçiz Topulli Square, and 279.6 million lek in culture and sport projects, including the reconstruction of the Zihni Sako Theatre.
The reply does not give a culture budget, does not address public consultations, a culture strategy or income from culture, and leaves 2021 without an activity calendar. These gaps make it hard to judge how much the municipality spends on culture each year and how residents take part in decisions.
1. Governance and institutions
The Agency for Activities and Tourism, based in Çerçiz Topulli Square, organises and promotes cultural, artistic and tourist activities and the city's heritage. Three further institutions depend on the municipality: the Cinema, on Astrit Karagjozi Street, which organises screenings, festivals and audiovisual activities; the Theatre, which stages performances and supports local artists; and the Sports Palace. The medium term budget plan groups tourism, heritage, art, culture and sport in one joint programme.
2. Staff and funding
Staff in the structures responsible for culture rose from 10 in 2020 and 2021 to 14 in 2022, 28 in 2023 and 54 in 2024, then fell to 28 in 2025. The reply gives a breakdown by gender for each year that matches these totals. It does not report the approved or actual budget for culture, so the cost of the programme and the share of it actually spent cannot be followed from the municipality's own data.
3. Cultural programme
The reply contains two kinds of records. The Agency's own tables list 10 activities in 2024 and 35 in 2025, among them Divani Lunxhiot, Iso mbi Kalldrëm, the 20th anniversary of UNESCO listing, GjiroClassica, Qilimi Fest and theatre productions such as Hamlet. The annual calendars are broader and include events by the library, the museums, the Children's Cultural Centre, schools and partners: 74 in 2023, 113 planned in 2024 and 103 in 2025, with further calendars for 2020 and 2022. Events take place in the theatre, the cinema, the Fato Berberi Cultural Centre, the bazaar, the castle, the library and open squares.
4. Heritage
The reply lists major works in the historic centre in 2022 - 2024, totalling about 1.09 billion lek: the reconstruction of a historic structure in the castle (174.9 million lek), the revitalisation of Çerçiz Topulli Square (149.4 million lek), works to protect the castle road (80.7 million lek) and several projects of the urban plan, such as the valorisation of the Mecite Hammam and of Dunavat. A second table lists 279.6 million lek in culture and sport projects in 2020 - 2025, including the Zihni Sako Theatre (30.9 million lek in 2020, co-financed by the EU, and 11.5 million lek of municipal works in 2021), the Fato Berberi Cultural Centre (50.4 million lek, donor funded, 2022) and the multifunctional cinema Try (9.1 million lek, 2023 - 2024).
5. Planning and public participation
The reply does not answer the questions on a culture strategy, public consultations or income from culture. The annual calendars show that the municipality plans its programme a year ahead, but there is no evidence that residents or cultural organisations were consulted on it, or on the large investments in the historic centre.
6. Culture across the municipality
Most venues and investments are in the city of Gjirokastër. The calendars also include events in the administrative units, such as village fairs in Antigonë and Lazarat, Divani Lunxhiot and transhumance events, but the reply does not report activities or spending by unit.
Conclusions
- Gjirokastër's annual calendars list 74 to 113 cultural and public events a year in 2023 - 2025.
- Staff in the structures responsible for culture rose from 10 in 2020 to 54 in 2024, then fell to 28 in 2025.
- The municipality reports about 1.09 billion lek in historic centre works and 279.6 million lek in culture and sport projects.
- The reply gives no culture budget and does not address consultations, strategy or income from culture.
- No activity calendar was provided for 2021, and activities are not reported by administrative unit.
Recommendations
Publish the culture budget
A city with Gjirokastër's heritage and calendar needs a clear culture budget. The municipality could publish each year the planned and actual spending of the Agency, the theatre and the cinema, separately from tourism and sport.
Explain the changes in staff
Staff rose to 54 in 2024 and fell to 28 in 2025. A short explanation of what changed, and how many staff work on culture specifically, would help assess the capacity to run the new and restored venues.
Consult residents on the historic centre
The large investments in the bazaar, the castle and the squares affect residents' daily lives. Public hearings on the use of these spaces, and on the annual calendar, would make decisions more transparent and inclusive.
Prepare a culture strategy
With a UNESCO listing, a theatre, a cinema and a rich calendar, Gjirokastër could prepare a culture strategy for 2026 - 2030 that links heritage, events and tourism, with targets and indicators.
Report activities in a single format
Publishing the calendars in one numbered format for every year, with participants and the administrative unit of each event, would make it possible to follow cultural life over time and across the municipality.
About the data
Population figures come from the INSTAT 2023 Census. Staff, activities, calendars and investments are as reported by the municipality in its reply, which was scanned and read page by page. The joint programme for tourism, heritage, art, culture and sport is described in 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.
