Festivali Folklorik Kombëtar i Gjirokastrës

High above the stone-built houses of Gjirokastra in southern Albania, a castle becomes a national stage. The Festivali Folklorik Kombëtar i Gjirokastrës is Albania's national folk festival, its most important celebration of folklore. Its stages hold music, dance, traditional costumes and rituals from the whole Albanian world. Thousands of artists, artisans and enthusiasts take part, and people of every age are welcome. Performances run inside the castle and spill into squares and streets across the city.

The story began in 1946, when a National Festival of Folk Dances and Songs opened in Tirana. More editions followed there, and Elbasan and Lezha hosted the gathering in 1966 and 1967. In 1968 the festival climbed to Gjirokastra's stone castle and became the National Festival of Song, Music and Dance. From then on it kept a five-year rhythm there, with editions from 1973 to 1988. Berat hosted the 1995 edition, and the new millennium brought the festival back to the castle. Further editions followed in 2004, 2009 and 2015. Its purpose stays constant: to preserve, protect and promote Albanian folk values in all their variety. Troupes arrive from every region of Albania and from Albanian communities in Kosovo, North Macedonia and Montenegro. The Ministry of Tourism, Culture, Youth and Sports organises it, and researchers prepare the scientific criteria for participating groups.

In 2023, after an eight-year pause, the festival returned to the top of the castle. That edition honoured the artisans who keep Albanian weaving alive. Spanish artist Ines Esnal designed a carpet from dozens of kilometres of thread. More than twelve hundred artists performed during that week. Wherever you stand in the city during a festival week, you hear a culture the Albanian people have kept for centuries.