State of Culture in Albania 2025 · Municipal profiles · Artivista Center (Qendra Artivista)
This profile is based on information provided by the Municipality of Cërrik 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) | Elbasan |
| Administrative units | 5: Cërrik, Gostimë, Mollas, Shalës, Klos (28 villages) |
| Area | 189.65 km² |
| Population, 2023 Census | 25,163 (about 132.7 residents per km²); 8.3% fewer than in 2011 |
| Residents aged 65 and over | 22.1% (national average 19.7%) |
| Culture budget reported | 2,430,000 lek in 2020; 4,768,000 lek in 2025 |
| Culture programme in the budget plan, 2025 | 8,350,000 lek (1.56% of the municipal budget) |
| Cultural institutions | 1: City Cinema (5 staff) |
| Registered monuments | 6; no restoration spending during the period 2020 - 2025 |
Summary
Cërrik's cultural life is delivered through one institution, the City Cinema, by a small team of four to five people. During the period 2020 - 2025, the culture budget reported by the municipality almost doubled, from 2,430,000 lek in 2020 to 4,768,000 lek in 2025. The staff and the programme, however, stayed much the same: each year the calendar is built around a similar set of civic and commemorative events.
The municipality's development plan names cultural and culinary tourism as one of its three priority sectors up to 2030, and Cërrik has six registered monuments, from the castles of Dragot and Mali to the tumuli of Pazhok. Yet no funds were spent on restoring these monuments during the period 2020 - 2025, and the municipality has neither a culture strategy nor a practice of consulting residents on culture. The priority set for 2030 has therefore not yet been translated into concrete plans or investment.
Cultural activities take place mainly in the town's central square. The municipality did not report any activities by administrative unit, although about two thirds of its households live in the four units outside the town, where most of the monuments are also located.
1. Governance and institutions
Culture is managed by the Agency for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport Services, which also covers several other fields. The only cultural institution is the City Cinema in the town centre, with 5 staff, which hosts film screenings, exhibitions, concerts and activities for children. The municipality's schedule of local fees includes categories for a library, a museum, a theatre and a children's cultural centre, but none of them record any activity, which suggests that these services do not currently operate.
2. Funding
The culture budget reported by the municipality has grown over the period, with some variation from year to year, from 2,430,000 lek in 2020 to 4,768,000 lek in 2025. The municipality was asked for both the approved budget and the actual spending, by programme and institution, but provided one figure per year without specifying whether it refers to planned or actual amounts.
The municipality's medium term budget plan (PBA) shows a larger culture programme. For 2025 it foresees 8,350,000 lek, made up of 3,750,000 lek for staff, 2,600,000 lek for operating costs and 2,000,000 lek for investment. For 2026 and 2027 the programme falls to 6,770,000 lek and 7,070,000 lek, with no investment at all. The difference between the two figures for 2025 is 75%, and the documents do not make it possible to tell whether the reported figure covers the whole programme or only part of it.
Depending on which figure is used, culture represents 1.56% (budget plan) or 0.89% (reported figure) of the municipal budget of 536.95 million lek in 2025, or about 332 or 190 lek per resident. The investment of 2,000,000 lek in 2025 is not described as heritage related, and the cultural institution earns no income of its own.
3. Cultural programme
| Year | Events reported |
|---|---|
| 2020 | Batalioni i Dumresë (May); Dita e Abetares (May); Dita e Fëmijëve (June); Koncerti i Emigrantëve (August) |
| 2021 | Batalioni i Dumresë (May); Dita e Fëmijëve (June); Dita e Flamurit (November) |
| 2022 | Batalioni i Dumresë (May); Festa e Emigrantëve (August); city anniversary and Dita e Flamurit (November) |
| 2023 | Spring Concert (April); Batalioni i Dumresë (May); Festa e Emigrantëve (August); city anniversary and Dita e Flamurit (November) |
| 2024 | Batalioni i Dumresë (May); Dita e Fëmijëve (June); Festa e Portokalles, concert (August); city anniversary and Dita e Flamurit (November) |
| 2025 | Batalioni i Dumresë (May); Festa e Portokalles, concert (July); city anniversary and Dita e Flamurit (November) |
The calendar has changed little since 2020. Each year it includes three to four civic and commemorative events, such as the commemoration of the Dumrea Battalion in May and Flag Day with the city's anniversary in November, together with a summer concert or festival. These events are important for the town's identity, but the programme does not include visual arts, literature or contemporary performance. For a population in which 22.1% of residents are aged 65 or over, as well as for young people, a broader offer would make culture more relevant throughout the year. The municipality reported 5 beneficiaries of public cultural funds, without giving their total value.
4. Heritage
The municipality's budget plan lists six registered cultural monuments:
- Kalaja “Dragoti”, Qafë Sulovë
- Kalaja “Dragoti”, Dragot, Mollas
- Kalaja “Mali”, Xherie, Shalës
- Kulla e Kamanahut, Mollas
- Tumat e Pazhokut, Gostimë
- Rrënojat e Kishës, Selivias, Klos
These sites are the main resource for the cultural tourism that the municipality has chosen as a priority. The budget plan states that the municipality is highlighting these sites and preparing projects to turn them into destinations for visitors. During the period 2020 - 2025, however, no funds were spent on restoration or intervention on any of them, and the budget plan does not include a dedicated heritage line for the coming years.
5. Staff
The number of staff working on culture has remained at four to five people throughout the period: 4 in 2020 - 2022, 5 in 2023 and 4 in 2024 and 2025. This is close to the cinema's own team of 5, which suggests that the cinema staff and the municipality's culture staff are largely the same people. The growth of the budget has not been accompanied by an increase in staff.
6. Planning and public participation
During the period 2020 - 2025, the municipality did not prepare any cultural strategy, local plan or policy document, did not hold any public consultation on culture, and has no action plans in progress. This is not due to a lack of experience with consultation: the municipality's budget documents show that it consults residents in all administrative units on local taxes and fees. The same practice could be applied to culture.
The municipality's development vision to 2030 names three priority sectors: cultural and culinary tourism, tobacco growing and pomegranate growing. Of these, cultural tourism is the one with the least planning and investment behind it so far.
7. Culture across the municipality
The municipality stated that “no cultural activities have been carried out divided by administrative unit” and that activities take place mainly in the town's central square. It does not report any activity or investment in the four administrative units outside the town, Gostimë, Mollas, Shalës and Klos, and does not specify whether any took place there. This information gap is significant: according to the budget plan, these four units account for 5,000 of the municipality's 7,559 households and 360 of its 602 businesses, and five of the six registered monuments are located there.
8. National and European context
Under the National Tourism Strategy 2024 - 2030, Elbasan region, including Cërrik, belongs to the Central cluster, where culture is one of three main tourism products. The cultural sites named for the cluster are in the city of Elbasan; none of Cërrik's monuments are among them. Cërrik's own priority on cultural tourism is therefore consistent with the regional direction, but its monuments still need to be developed and promoted to become part of it.
As an EU candidate country, Albania has access to EU support for culture through IPA and the EU4Culture programme. No evidence was found that Cërrik has used these instruments.
9. Key findings
- The reported culture budget almost doubled during the period 2020 - 2025, while staff (4 to 5 people) and the number of institutions (one) stayed the same.
- The reported figure and the budget plan differ by 75% for 2025, and the municipality does not specify whether its figures are planned or actual.
- The programme relies on a similar set of civic events each year, with no visual arts, literature or contemporary performance.
- Six registered monuments received no restoration funds during the period 2020 - 2025, although cultural tourism is a priority sector to 2030.
- There is no culture strategy and no public consultation on culture, although the municipality already consults residents on local taxes.
- No activity is reported by administrative unit, while about two thirds of households live outside the town.
10. Recommendations
Report one clear culture budget
The difference between the reported figure and the budget plan makes it difficult to know how much Cërrik spends on culture. The Mayor could ensure that, from the next reporting year, culture spending is published as both planned and actual amounts, by programme and institution, and in line with the culture programme of the budget plan. A short note explaining the 2025 difference would be a useful first step.
Turn the cultural tourism priority into a plan
Cultural tourism is one of the municipality's three priorities to 2030, but it has no strategy or action plan behind it. The Municipal Council could ask the Agency for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport Services to prepare a short cultural tourism plan that links the six monuments, local traditions and events. The plan could be prepared through the same public meetings in all administrative units that the municipality already holds on local taxes, and approved with a timeline and budget.
Start investing in the monuments
No funds have been spent on the six monuments, and no investment in culture is planned for 2026 and 2027. As a first step, the municipality could commission a condition assessment of all six sites and include a modest heritage line in the next budget for urgent maintenance of one site. A documented assessment would also be the basis for seeking larger support from the central government and from EU programmes such as IPA and EU4Culture.
Bring culture to the villages and record it
Most households, and most monuments, are outside the town. The Agency and the City Cinema could organise at least one event a year in each of Gostimë, Mollas, Shalës and Klos, using monument sites as venues where possible, and record activities by administrative unit so that their reach can be followed.
Broaden the programme
The cinema already hosts screenings, exhibitions and concerts, but the yearly calendar remains narrow. Alongside the commemorations, it could offer regular film evenings, exhibitions and readings for young people and older residents, and test modest income from these activities, such as small ticket fees or room rental.
About the data
Population figures come from the INSTAT 2023 Census; the municipality's budget plan uses a civil registry figure of 48,562, which is higher because it includes people who live elsewhere. Budget figures are as reported by the municipality and in its medium term budget plan (PBA) for 2025 - 2027.
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.
