Gjirokastër National Folklore Festival () is an artistic festival taking place every five years at

Gjirokastër Castle Gjirokastër (, sq-definite, Gjirokastra) is a city in the Republic of Albania and the seat of Gjirokastër County and Gjirokastër Municipality. It is located in a valley between the Gjerë mountains and the Drino, at 300 metres above sea le ...

Gjirokastër Gjirokastër (, sq-definite, Gjirokastra) is a List of cities and towns in Albania, city in the Republic of Albania and the seat of Gjirokastër County and Gjirokastër Municipality. It is located in a valley between the Gjerë mountains and th ...

, southern

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

. The festival was first held in 1968 and is regarded as the most important event in Albanian culture. The festival showcases Albanian traditional music,

dress A dress (also known as a frock or a gown) is a garment traditionally worn by women or girls consisting of a skirt with an attached bodice (or a matching bodice giving the effect of a one-piece garment). It consists of a top piece that co ...

and dance from Albania, the diaspora, and Albanian inhabited lands throughout the Balkans and Southern Italy. The Gjirokastër Festival followed the tradition of the Folklore Festivals started in Tirana in 1949.

History

The Gjirokastër National Folklore Festival was preceded by the ''National Festival of Song, Music and Dance'' held in

Tiranë Tirana ( , ; aln, Tirona) is the capital and largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest overlooking the Adriatic Sea ...

, capital of

in 1949 and subsequently on November 25–27, 1959. Ten years later, on October 8–16, 1968, the first National Folklore Festival was held in Gjirokastër to celebrate the birthday of Enver Hoxha, the communist leader of Albania and native of the city. The festival was reheld every five years in 1973, 1978, 1983, and 1988. In 1995 the festival was held in the citadel of

Berat Berat (; sq-definite, Berati) is the ninth most populous city of Albania and the seat of Berat County and Berat Municipality. By air, it is north of Gjirokastër, west of Korçë, south of Tirana, and east of Fier. Berat is located in ...

, while since September 2000 it has been held again in Gjirokastër. The 9th season was held in September 2009. The winners of the Festival was the

Shkodër County Shkodër County ( sq, Qarku i Shkodrës) is a county in northwestern Albania, with the capital in Shkodër. The county spans and had a total population of 197,177 people as of 2021. The county borders on the counties of Lezhë, Kukës and the co ...

as overall best performance, whereas the best individual performances was deemed those of bards Sherif Dervishi and Myfterin Uka. The festival's 10th season took place from May 10–16, 2015. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, the festival's 11th season was rescheduled for May 1 to 8, 2021.

Other festivals

Traditional Albanian clothing, dances, and folklore are showcased in several other festivals including Sofra Dardane every June in

Bajram Curri Bajram Curri (16 January 1862 – 29 March 1925) was an Albanian chieftain, politician and activist who struggled for the independence of Albania, later struggling for Kosovo's incorporation into it following the 1913 Treaty of London. He w ...

, Oda Dibrane in

Peshkopi Peshkopi ( sq-definite, Peshkopia, Latin: ''Penestae'') is a town in Dibër County, northeastern Albania. At the 2015 local government reform it became a subdivision of the municipality Dibër. The population at the 2011 census was 13,251.

, Logu i Bjeshkeve every August in Kelmend,

Cham Cham or CHAM may refer to: Ethnicities and languages *Chams, people in Vietnam and Cambodia **Cham language, the language of the Cham people ***Cham script *** Cham (Unicode block), a block of Unicode characters of the Cham script *Cham Albania ...

Dance Festival in Saranda and Konispol, and other festivals in various Albanian cities.

Sources

External links

Official Website of Ministry of Culture of Albania
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gjirokaster National Folklore Festival Albanian folklore Folk festivals in Albania Music festivals established in 1968 Gjirokastër Tourist attractions in Gjirokastër County Autumn events in Albania