State of Culture in Albania 2025 · Municipal profiles · Artivista Center (Qendra Artivista)
This profile is based on information provided by the Municipality of Berat 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) | Berat |
| Administrative units | 5: Berat (centre), Otllak, Velabisht, Sinjë, Roshnik |
| Area | 379.98 km² |
| Population, 2023 Census | 62,232 (about 163.8 residents per km²); 3.7% more than in 2011 |
| Residents aged 65 and over | 23.2% (national average 19.7%) |
| Cultural institutions | Cultural Centre “Margarita Tutulani” (29 staff); Directorate of Tourism and Activities (12 staff) |
| Cultural activities | 13 in 2020; 40 in 2024; 37 in 2025 |
| Heritage and arts budget, planned | 77.5 million lek in 2024; 80.8 million lek in 2026 |
| Income from culture | 5,775,000 lek in 2025 |
Summary
Berat, a UNESCO World Heritage city, has one of the best staffed cultural sectors among the municipalities in this series. Culture is managed by two structures with 41 staff in total: the Cultural Centre “Margarita Tutulani”, which also runs the “Eduard Lear” Gallery and the “Vexhi Buharaja” Library, and the Directorate of Tourism and Activities. Over the period 2020 - 2025 the number of cultural activities more than tripled, from 13 in 2020 to 40 in 2024, and the funds attached to them rose to 36.8 million lek in 2025.
As the sector has grown, it has become harder to follow how much the city spends on culture. Since 2024, culture, heritage and sport have been grouped in one budget programme, worth 137,921,781 lek in 2026, which also includes a 29,000,000 lek subsidy to the municipally owned football club FK Tomori 1923. Only by looking at the detailed budget codes does it become clear that heritage and the arts alone account for a planned 80.8 million lek in 2026.
Information on heritage is also incomplete. The municipality described its reply as partial and stated that further information would follow; for now, there are no figures on the restoration of monuments, on a cultural strategy or on public consultations. Most activities take place in the city, while some villages, such as Otllak, have no recorded cultural activity.
1. Governance and institutions
The Cultural Centre “Margarita Tutulani”, located at the start of Bulevardi Republika in the city centre, is the main cultural institution and has had 29 staff in every year of the period. Its role is broad: it organises and promotes the city's cultural life, supports new artistic talent and runs ensembles for song, acting, ballet, dance and instrumental music, as well as an amateur theatre, a puppet theatre, a wind band, a symphony orchestra, a folk orchestra and a choreographic group. It works closely with schools, music schools and national broadcasters, and, according to the city's budget documents, it also runs the “Eduard Lear” Gallery and the “Vexhi Buharaja” Library.
Alongside the Centre, the Directorate of Tourism and Activities, with 12 staff, prepares local tourism policy, promotes the city's historic and cultural values, and organises cultural, artistic and festive events. Together, the two structures give Berat a stronger institutional base than most municipalities.
2. Funding
During the period 2020 - 2023, the budget for heritage and cultural events was consistently spent below plan. Only 61.2% of the planned amount was used in 2020, 51.9% in 2021 and 62.8% in 2022. The situation improved in 2023, when the municipality spent 46,905,422 lek of a planned 57,036,332 lek, or 82.2%. These figures match the municipality's medium term budget plan (PBA) closely.
From 2024, the city changed how it presents its budget, bringing heritage, the arts and sport together in a single programme, “Turizmi, Kultura dhe Sportet”. In the approved 2026 budget, this programme totals 137,921,781 lek, or 8.29% of the city budget, and covers 51 employees. It includes a 29,000,000 lek subsidy to FK Tomori 1923, which the municipality owns in full and which represents 21% of the programme. Within this total, heritage and the arts account for a planned 77.5 million lek in 2024, 78.4 million lek in 2025 and 80.8 million lek in 2026.
Berat has also begun to earn income from culture. After no income in 2020 - 2022, renting the library hall brought in 12,000 lek in 2023, and renting wooden cabins at the Christmas Market brought in 3,200,000 lek in 2024 and 5,775,000 lek in 2025.
3. Cultural programme
The cultural calendar has expanded considerably. Activities grew every year from 13 in 2020 to 40 in 2024, before easing slightly to 37 in 2025. Funding grew even faster: the funds distributed for activities ranged from 4.6 to 16.3 million lek a year in 2020 - 2023, then rose to 32.6 million lek in 2024 and 36.8 million lek in 2025. Because the number of beneficiaries fell at the same time, to 30 in 2024 and 28 in 2025, each activity now receives more support than before. The Cultural Centre's contracted artistic ensembles also grew, from 84 in 2021 to 95 in 2025.
The reply contains a second table, listing activities by administrative unit, which gives slightly different totals for 2022 (40), 2024 (41) and 2025 (38). The figures used here come from the table that directly answers the question on the number of activities.
4. Heritage
For a city whose historic centre is on the UNESCO World Heritage List, heritage is central to Berat's identity and to its tourism. The reply, however, does not yet include any figures on the restoration of monuments, museums or churches, so it is not possible to assess how much the municipality invests in its historic fabric.
The available data show steady growth in Berat's cultural collections. The “Eduard Lear” Gallery grew from 205 works in 2021 to 250 in 2025, and the “Vexhi Buharaja” Library from 61,915 titles to 70,420. The budget plan for 2026 - 2028 also allocates 1.0 to 1.5 million lek a year to the library.
The same plan lists two projects for a youth centre in Lapardha. The reconstruction of the Lapardha Youth Centre, with a contracted value of 18,551,646 lek for 2025 - 2026, appears among projects financed by the state budget, with municipal co-financing for the list as a whole. The construction of the Lapardha Youth Centre is budgeted at 9,568,000 lek in 2025 from the municipality's own funds.
5. Staff
Staffing has been stable throughout the period: 29 people at the Cultural Centre and 12 at the Directorate of Tourism and Activities, 41 in total. The combined Tourism, Culture and Sport programme covers 51 employees in 2026, a figure that also includes sport staff.
6. Planning and public participation
The municipality has not yet provided information on cultural strategies, local plans, public consultations or projects in progress for culture, creative industries or heritage, and stated that this information would follow. Until it is available, it is not possible to say whether the city's growing programme is guided by a long term plan.
7. Culture across the municipality
Most activities and investments take place in the city of Berat. Outside the city, the picture varies: Velabisht has hosted activities every year since 2021, Roshnik in 2021, 2023, 2024 and 2025, and Sinjë in 2024 and 2025. Investments outside the city were recorded in Sinjë (2021), Velabisht and Roshnik (2022 and 2023) and Otllak (2025). Otllak, however, has no recorded cultural activity during the period 2020 - 2025.
8. National and European context
Under the National Tourism Strategy 2024 - 2030, Berat belongs to the Southern Inland cluster, together with Gjirokastër and Korçë, where culture is a main tourism product. Berat is named as one of the cluster's anchors, as a UNESCO “Stone City”, and the strategy cites several of its festivals: the Olive Festival, Xixëllonja Fest, the Cherry Festival and a wine and history festival.
As an EU candidate country, Albania has access to EU support for culture through IPA and the EU4Culture programme. No evidence was found that Berat has used these instruments for its cultural institutions; the capital projects identified are financed through municipal and state budgets.
9. Key findings
- Berat has 41 staff in two cultural structures, a gallery and a library, and a programme of activities that more than tripled between 2020 and 2024.
- Since 2024, culture, heritage and sport have shared one budget programme that also includes a subsidy to the city's football club, which makes culture spending hard to identify.
- The heritage and cultural events budget was underspent in 2020 - 2022, with spending improving to 82.2% of plan in 2023.
- Information on heritage restoration, strategy, public consultations and cultural spaces is still to be provided.
- Income from culture began in 2023 and reached 5,775,000 lek in 2025.
- Activity is concentrated in the city, and Otllak has no recorded cultural activity.
10. Recommendations
Present culture separately in the city budget
Since 2024, culture, heritage and sport have been reported together, alongside a 29,000,000 lek subsidy to FK Tomori 1923. The Mayor and the finance directorate could present the culture and heritage share of the programme as a separate line in the next budget and in annual reports, using the codes that already exist in the detailed budget. This would allow residents and councillors to see at a glance how much Berat spends on culture.
Report heritage spending every year
As a UNESCO World Heritage city, Berat would benefit from a clear annual record of what it spends on its monuments, museums and churches. The municipality could complete the information it has promised on restoration, strategy, public consultations and cultural spaces, and then publish a short annual summary of heritage spending, listing each site and the type of work carried out.
Prepare a cultural strategy for the historic city
Berat has the people and the programme, but no published plan for its cultural development. The Cultural Centre and the Directorate of Tourism and Activities could prepare a cultural strategy, distinct from tourism policy, that sets priorities for heritage, the arts and access across the municipality. Discussing the draft in public meetings before it goes to the Municipal Council would help it reflect residents' priorities.
Use one register of activities and reach every village
The two tables in the reply give different activity totals for 2022, 2024 and 2025. A single register, kept by the Directorate and recording where each activity takes place, would remove this difference and make it possible to plan for the whole municipality. Using it, the Cultural Centre and the Directorate could commit to at least one activity a year in each administrative unit, starting with Otllak.
Broaden income and external support
The Christmas Market has shown that culture can bring in income. The Cultural Centre could test modest income from the gallery and the library, for example through exhibitions, room rental or guided visits. For larger heritage works, the municipality could work with the central government and prepare applications to EU programmes such as IPA and EU4Culture, using the improved reporting above as a basis.
About the data
Population figures come from the INSTAT 2023 Census. Budget figures are as reported by the municipality and in its medium term budget plans (PBA) for 2024 - 2026 and 2026 - 2028.
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.
