TIRANA, May 21 – The Gjirokastra folklore festival has successfully closed its tenth edition with a marathon one week of events awarding dozens of prizes.
A jury led by composer Zef Çoba awarded the first prize to artists from the region of Tirana and second prizes to the region of Berat and Korça.
Prizes were also awarded for the best bard, orchestra, performance, dancer, instrumentalist, costume and eldest lyrics.
A 105 year-old bard from Lezha, was the special guest of this edition.
More than 1,400 Albanian artists from Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro but also the Albanian communities in Italy, the U.S., Switzerland, Turkey participated in the tenth edition of the Gjirokastra folklore festival, one of the most important cultural heritage events held in the southern UNESCO town of Gjirokastra every five years.
“It is exactly this festival held every five years which is the country’s biggest monument of intangible heritage, which should not only be preserved as an institution but should be tough and alive so that it is conveyed and inherited in the same way we preserve fortresses and archeological parks,” said Kumbaro at a conference ahead of the festival held from May 10 to 16.
The whole of the historic town of Gjirokastra turned for one week into a huge stage where apart from the festival’s regular programme, there were exhibitions, street art, movie projections, open air performances and several trade fair on handicraft, books, gastronomy, tourism and agriculture.
