Gjirokastër National Folk Festival () is an artistic festival taking place every five years at Gjirokastër Castle in

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

, southern

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

. The festival was first held in 1968 and is regarded as the most important event in

Albanian culture Albanian culture or the culture of Albanians ( ) is a term that embodies the Albanian art, artistic, Albanian cuisine, culinary, Albanian literature, literary, Music of Albania, musical, Politics of Albania, political and Traditions of Albania, ...

. The festival showcases Albanian traditional music,

dress A dress (also known as a frock or a gown) is a one-piece outer garment that is worn on the torso, hangs down over the legs, and is primarily worn by women or girls. Dresses often consist of a bodice attached to a skirt. Dress shapes, silh ...

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 Folk Festival was preceded by the ''National Festival of Song, Music and Dance'' held in

Tirana Tirana ( , ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in Albania, 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 ov ...

, 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 Enver Halil Hoxha ( , ; ; 16 October 190811 April 1985) was an Albanian communist revolutionary and politician who was the leader of People's Socialist Republic of Albania, Albania from 1944 until his death in 1985. He was the Secretary (titl ...

, 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 List of cities and towns in Albania, 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 ea ...

, 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 () is a county in northwestern Albania, with the capital in Shkodër. The county spans and had a total population of 154,479 people as of the 2023 census. The county borders on the counties of Lezhë, Kukës and the country of M ...

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. The latest season took place from June 24 to July 1, 2023.

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) is a town located in the mountainous regions of northeastern Albania, in Dibër County. It is the capital of both the county () and the district () of Dibër, and is the only county regional capital in Albania ...

, 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 Albani ...

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

Sources

Bibliography

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 in Albania