State of Culture in Albania 2025 · Municipal profiles · Artivista Center (Qendra Artivista)
This profile is based on information provided by the Municipality of Bulqizë 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 | 7: Bulqizë, Martanesh, Fushë-Bulqizë, Zerqan, Gjoricë, Ostren, Trebisht |
| Area | 678.51 km² |
| Population, 2023 Census | 26,826 (about 39.5 residents per km²) |
| Residents aged 65 and over | 17.2% (national average 19.7%) |
| Cultural institutions | Children's Cultural Centre (3 staff); Heritage and Museums Sector (7 staff) |
| Cultural activities | 54 during the period 2020 - 2025 |
| Culture spending in 2025 | 25,534,000 lek (actual) |
| Heritage investment in 2023 | City museum and square: 29,595,000 lek; Martanesh building and cultural centre: 2,000,000 lek |
Summary
Bulqizë, in Dibër region, has two cultural institutions with ten staff and organised 54 cultural activities during the period 2020 - 2025. Unlike many municipalities, it reports activities in most of its administrative units, not only in the town. In 2023, the city museum and the square in front of it were reconstructed, as was the building of the Martanesh administrative unit with its cultural centre.
Spending on culture has risen considerably in recent years, but planning has not kept pace. In 2025 the municipality spent 25,534,000 lek on culture, while the budget plan approved earlier had foreseen only 7,100,000 lek for the same year. For 2026, too, the municipality's planning documents give different figures.
This growth is taking place without a strategy to guide it. Bulqizë has no culture strategy, and during the period 2020 - 2025 it did not hold any public consultation on culture. As a result, decisions about the museum, village festivals and heritage are made without written priorities and without hearing residents' views. At the same time, the cultural institutions earn no income and depend entirely on the municipal budget, which makes it all the more important that public funds are used according to a clear plan, in a municipality whose population is younger than the national average.
1. Governance and institutions
Culture in Bulqizë is managed by the Directorate of Education, Cultural Heritage, Youth, Sport and Tourism, which covers several fields at once. Two institutions with distinct and complementary roles report to it. The Children's Cultural Centre, with 3 staff (1 head and 2 instructors), trains talented children in singing, dance and recitation. The Heritage and Museums Sector, with 7 staff (1 head, 2 librarians, 1 museum worker, 1 specialist, 1 cleaner and 1 photographer), is responsible for preserving the traditions of the area and the history of the Bulqizë mine since its creation. This second task gives Bulqizë's heritage work a distinctive character, closely tied to the town's industrial history.
2. Funding
The chart shows the planned and actual culture budget as reported by the municipality. During the period 2020 - 2022, spending was modest and falling, from 6,864,000 lek in 2020 to 2,934,000 lek in 2022. The year 2023 marked a turning point: the planned budget reached 36,487,000 lek, largely because of the investments in the museum and in Martanesh, and 17,662,000 lek was spent. In 2024 and 2025, spending settled at a much higher level, 24,154,000 lek and 25,534,000 lek, close to the amounts planned.
The municipality's medium term budget plan (PBA) gives a consistent picture for 2021 and 2022, when its figures and those of the municipality almost exactly coincide. For 2023, the plan records 37,151,000 lek, an amount that includes the two heritage investments of that year (29,595,000 and 2,000,000 lek).
The main difference lies between planning and actual spending. The 2024 - 2026 budget plan foresaw 6,100,000 lek for culture in 2024 and 7,100,000 lek in 2025. The later 2027 - 2029 plan confirms that actual spending in 2025 reached 25,533,000 lek, far above that forecast. In other words, the increase in spending is real, but it was not anticipated in the planning documents.
For 2026, the new budget plan, which is still a draft, gives two different figures, 23,519,000 and 22,773,000 lek, while the earlier plan foresaw 7,100,000 lek. Most of the difference relates to programme staff and services, which rise from 5,500,000 to 20,773,000 lek. This may reflect a new way of classifying costs, but the documents do not explain it.
To put these figures in perspective, actual spending in 2025 amounted to about 952 lek per resident. Based on the planned amounts, culture represented 1.06% of the municipal budget in 2024 and 1.18% in 2025, below the national average of 1.56%.
3. Cultural programme
The number of cultural activities has been stable: 8 a year during the period 2020 - 2022 and 10 a year during the period 2023 - 2025, 54 in total. The activities are organised by the Children's Cultural Centre. According to the municipality, public funds are not given to individual beneficiaries: they cover staff salaries, while other costs go through public procurement. In the town, the main public space for cultural activities is the pedestrian street, while traditional festivals take place in the villages (see Section 7).
4. Heritage
For a municipality of its size, Bulqizë manages a considerable heritage. According to the budget plan, it administers 20 cultural heritage assets, a number that has not changed in recent years. The Heritage and Museums Sector also runs the library, which holds 5,000 books.
The most important heritage investment of the period was the reconstruction of the city museum and the square in front of it in 2023, worth 29,595,000 lek. In the same year, the municipality invested 2,000,000 lek in the Martanesh administrative building and its cultural centre. In its reply to Artivista, however, the municipality stated that no funds were used for restoration or intervention in cultural heritage objects during the period 2020 - 2025. This difference is likely due to different definitions of heritage spending in different documents, which makes it harder for citizens to follow how heritage is funded.
The reconstructed museum, together with the Sector's task of preserving the history of the mine, provides a good basis for presenting Bulqizë's industrial history to residents and visitors.
5. Staff
The number of staff working on culture has varied from year to year: 11 in 2020, 7 in 2021, 6 in 2022, 10 in 2023, 8 in 2024 and 10 in 2025. These changes do not appear to follow the growth of the budget. At present, the two institutions together employ 10 people.
6. Planning and public participation
During the period 2020 - 2025, Bulqizë did not implement any strategy, local plan or policy document for culture, and did not hold public consultations on culture or cultural heritage. The municipality currently has no strategy or project in progress for the development of culture, creative industries or heritage either. This absence is especially noticeable after the 2023 investment in the museum: an investment of this kind would benefit from a plan that sets out how the museum will be used, which activities it will host and how residents will be involved.
7. Culture across the municipality
| Area | Cultural activities reported |
|---|---|
| Bulqizë (town) | 5 May (Martyrs' Day), 1 May (Labour Day) |
| Gjoricë | Festa e Gjoricës |
| Shupenzë | Dita e Verës |
| Zerqan | Festa e Zerqanit, Festa e Gështenjave |
| Ostren | Kampionati i Mundjes |
| Fushë-Bulqizë | Shëngjergji, Festa e Sulltan Nevruzit |
| Martanesh | Festa e Ballenjës, Dita e Ashures |
Bulqizë stands out for the way its activities are spread across the territory. Besides the town, traditional festivals take place in Gjoricë, Zerqan, Ostren, Fushë-Bulqizë and Martanesh, as well as in Shupenzë. Shupenzë is not one of the seven official administrative units and probably refers to a village. Based on the official list, Trebisht is the only administrative unit where no cultural activity was recorded during the period 2020 - 2025.
8. National and European context
Under the National Tourism Strategy 2024 - 2030, Dibër region belongs to the Northern Inland cluster. In this cluster, the main tourism products are nature, outdoor activities and agrotourism, while culture is a secondary product. None of Bulqizë's heritage assets are among the sites named for the cluster. This suggests that the mining history and the new museum could serve as a complement to the region's nature tourism, if they are promoted together with it.
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 Bulqizë has benefited from them.
9. Key findings
- Two cultural institutions with ten staff organised 54 activities during the period 2020 - 2025, reaching most administrative units.
- Actual culture spending in 2025 (25.5 million lek) was far above the earlier forecast (7.1 million lek), and planning documents give different figures for 2026.
- The city museum and the Martanesh cultural centre were reconstructed in 2023, while the municipality's reply reports no heritage restoration spending, a sign of different definitions in different documents.
- There is no culture strategy and no public consultation on culture, and the cultural institutions earn no income.
- Trebisht is the only administrative unit with no recorded cultural activity.
- The population is younger than the national average.
10. Recommendations
A culture strategy prepared with residents
The municipality has invested heavily in culture, but without a strategy that explains its priorities. The Directorate of Education, Cultural Heritage, Youth, Sport and Tourism could prepare a culture strategy for 2027 - 2029, in the same cycle as the new budget plan. The strategy should define the role of the reconstructed museum, the support for village festivals and the objectives of the Children's Cultural Centre. Before it goes to the Municipal Council, the draft could be discussed in at least one public meeting in the town and one in the administrative units. An approved and published strategy would be a clear measure of success.
Align planning with actual spending
The gap between the forecast (7,100,000 lek) and actual spending (25,533,000 lek) in 2025 shows that the budget plan does not reflect what is actually spent. The finance directorate could publish a short explanation of what the 2025 funds were used for and set a single figure for 2026 before the 2027 - 2029 plan is finally approved. From then on, publishing the planned and actual culture budget every year on the municipality's website, and using the 2023 Census population (26,826 residents) for any per resident calculation, would allow citizens to follow how these funds are used.
One definition of heritage spending
The museum reconstruction appears as a heritage investment in the budget plan, but not in the municipality's reply. The municipality could adopt a clear internal definition of what counts as heritage spending and apply it in the same way in the budget, in annual reports and in replies to requests for information. This would allow investments such as the museum to be followed and assessed over time.
The museum as a centre for the history of the mine
The reconstructed museum and the Sector's task of preserving the history of the mine offer a distinctive opportunity. The Heritage and Museums Sector could develop guided visits and educational activities for schools, focused on the history of the mine and the mining community. A modest fee for visitors from outside the municipality could bring the first income to the cultural institutions, while links with the nature tourism of the Northern Inland cluster could attract new visitors.
Culture in every administrative unit
The spread of activities across the territory is one of Bulqizë's strengths. The Children's Cultural Centre and the Directorate could build on it by committing to at least one activity a year in each of the seven administrative units, starting with Trebisht. Reporting activities by unit would make this commitment measurable.
Support from European programmes
With an approved strategy, the municipality would be better placed to apply to programmes such as IPA and EU4Culture, which support culture in candidate countries. A reasonable first step is to identify one concrete project, for example the museum's educational programme, and prepare an application in partnership with a cultural organisation.
About the data
Population figures come from the INSTAT 2023 Census; the municipality's planning documents use a civil registry figure of 39,567, which is higher because it includes people who live elsewhere. Budget figures are as reported by the municipality and in its medium term budget plans (PBA) for 2024 - 2026 and 2027 - 2029 (draft).
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.
