Events and festivals in Gjakova

Events and festivals in Gjakova are highly valued even though not so big in number. The historical city of Gjakova, Kosovo, especially the Old Bazaar(Çarshia) is the hub of many outdoor and indoor festivals, cultural events and street parades and is a main attraction for tourists. Many of them only take place once, while others are organised regularly on an annual basis by various festival societies. Some of the events are organised by the city and some are organised by private companies. The list below shows the main events and festivals in Gjakova.

Events

100 Thousand Poets For Change

100 Thousand Poets for Change is an international educational organization focusing on the arts, especially poetry, music, and the literary arts. 100 Thousand Poets for Change started in 2011 in Gjakova as well and was organized by the National Center of Poets, Writers and Artists (Q.K.P.SH.A 'Gjakova'). This manifest is held on two days, during which are held literary hours and cultural meetings. This event organized by Pegasi Internacional Albania-Kosova in Gjakova is also held in September. Various artists and writers are selected by a professional jury and awarded for their contributions. Here are gathered poets which with their work want to make positive changes on the society. ^[1]

Accapello

Accapello is an international event of female choirs, which is organized from music school 'Prenk Jakova' in Gjakova. The first edition was held on 29, 30 and 31 of January 2014. On the first evening, its program presented the choir of the school 'Prenk Jakova' and the female choir 'Nerazdelni' from Kyustendi from Bulgaria with lead conductor Wesela Petrova. On the second night of the festival was presented female choir 'Wox Art' from Pristina with lead conductor Ylber Asllanaj, and the mix choir from Ferizaj. On the third night of the festival was presented the female choir from Sofia 'Polifonia' with lead conductor Judmilla Gerova. ^[2]

BarCamp Gjakova

BarCamp Gjakova is a recurrent event which gathers people to listen to competent speakers talk about different subjects each time. More than 120 people gathered in Gjakova for the first BarCamp organized in this city. BarCamp Gjakova is organized by Active Civilian Community (Komuniteti Aktiv Qytetar - KAQ) and supported by IPKO Foundation. ^{[3] [4]}

Building Europe at Home

Building Europe at Home was an event organized by CeLIM, Gjakova Youth Center, She Era and Municipality of Gjakova, held from 7-9 May 2015. The event was based on emphasizing peace and unity among European states. During these days many activities took place: seminars, NGO fair, scavenger hunts, cinema, art activities for children, information events, mural art. The overall objective of the project was to increase the awareness of young Kosovars between 15 and 29 years to the existence of valid opportunities to build their future in Kosovo. The action aimed specifically to underline the importance of volunteerism, the social function of culture and art in the evolutionary path in a democratic society and inform about work and international mobility opportunities offered by foreign programs and organizations. The first day put the focus entirely on active citizenship and volunteerism, the second day on international mobility and employment while the third day was dedicated to art and culture. ^[5]

DigiGjakova

Digi Gjakova was a competition that aimed to create solutions that would solve some of the citizens’ problems. Software developers gathered for an intense weekend of application development from 21-22 November 2015. ^[6] Its goals were to improve the process of recruiting, the visualization of the budget and the controlling of invoices. The participants were mentored by 8 technology professionals. The three best projects were chosen and were given 4,000€ to continue with development. The project was supported by The Municipality of Gjakova, Swiss Cooperation Office in Kosovo, BONEVET center and the UNDP. The competition aimed to contribute directly to increased transparency at the local level and promote civic engagement in terms of providing solutions. ^[7]

Crowdsourcing Week Summit

Local and international speakers gathered in Gjakova for a one-day conference to share how crowdsourcing is reshaping industries and transforming organizations today. It was held on 1st October 2015. Over 10 different crowdsourcing industry experts and practitioners proved how crowdsourcing and the crowd economy can truly reinvigorate cities, accelerate entrepreneurship and engage citizens and local communities. This event was organized in partnership with BONEVET, Kosovo's leading non-profit Makerspace. The summit consisted of an interactive day of learning and case-studies for entrepreneurs, cities, governments, and communities to understand the opportunities within the crowd economy, and a meaningful conversation about how it can specifically be applied in Gjakova. ^[8]

Festivals

Përralla

Përralla is a festival which has been held annually for two years in the park of Shkugëz in Gjakovë. The first edition was held during the dates of 9-10 May 2014. ^[9] In 2015 "Përralla" was held from 7th to 10th of May. The festival featured local singers, bands, DJs and famous Kosovar musicians.^[10]

Gjakova Film Festival

The Palace of Culture - Pallati i kulturës " Asim Vokshi " in Gjakovë where 'Gjakova Film Festival' is held

Gjakova Film Festival is an international short-film festival. This festival is organized in cooperation of the Culture Department of the Gjakova and the Association of the Writers and Artists 'Etuta'. This festival was organized on the March of 2012 for the first time. The winner of the first event was a movie from Czech Republic, 'Bridge' directed by William Zabka. 11 prizes awarded at the festival, two of which featured the well-known actress Arta Dobroshi. ^[11] The second event was held on 21–24 March 2013, on the cultural palace 'Asim Vokshi'. During this event 24 short selections were shown from 20 different movies. The first prize won the Bulgarian movie 'Travel Trip' of Radostina Naikova, also a special prize the well awarded movie in different international film festivals 'Kolona' by Ujkan Hysa. ^[12] On March 2014, the third annual event was organized as well. It was held from 21-23 March during which many movies from different states of the world were shown. ^[13]

Komedia Fest

Picture of Old Bazaar where most of the activities of 'Komedia Fest' are held

Komedia Fest is the festival of comedy which started on 17th March until 23th September 2012. It has been held yearly ever since. The festivals main center for activities was the Old Bazaar in Gjakovë. It is a multidimensional festival throughout which different plays are put on stage from theatrical troupes all over the nation whereas the plays are mostly from the genre of comedy, music concerts, handcraft fairs and art exhibitions are also held. Seven different theatrical troupes showcased comedy plays, whilst troupes from The National Theatre of Prishtina, The Comedy Theatre of Tirana, The Theatre of Fier, Skopje and Tetovo took part. Albanian representatives of arts and culture from Italy, Montenegro and Çamëria were guests of Komedia Fest.^[14] Its main focus is promoting this city's cultural heritage and artistic values. The second edition was held from 09-15 September 2013. From the 6th to 14th of September 2014 in Gjakova, the third edition of comedy festival “Komedia Fest” was held. It had risen to an international level and had incorporated performances from European guests throughout the days unlike the usual guests from Albanian-speaking territories. This time around there was a sense of raising the awareness for other buildings of cultural heritage, with focusing its activities in the Ethnographic Museum of Gjakova. During these days of various performance activities, artists and festival guests together with many art lovers had a chance to interact and discuss many different issues related to the genre of comedy in a very pleasant atmosphere. This edition was also added the animated movies program of the comedy genre, screened on the museum wall surface. All the interested citizens had a chance to experience it all free of charge. This project has been identified in the Local Cultural Heritage Plan of Gjakova. Project was implemented by NGO “National Comedy Festival” and is part of the initiative “Culture Days in Gjakova” held during the year of 2014, financed jointly by CHwB Kosovo, Municipality of Gjakova and other partners. ^[15]

Radio Fest

Radio Fest is a traditional manifestation where are presented the achievements of radio stations on the field of publicity spot and radio reporting. Aside from local and national radio stations from Kosovo, there will be other participants from Albania. The aim of the Radio Fest is to stimulate creative work of the radio workers. Radio Fest was first organized in November, 2005 and has repeatedly held since then, developing into a traditional event.^[16]

Lyra Fest

Lyra Fest is a traditional and national festival of children's song, hosting child participants from all areas where the Albanian language is spoken. This festival has a competitive characteristics where children between the ages 6 to 13 may compete. It has been held since November 2007, in cultural palace 'Asim Vokshi', in Gjakova.^[17]

International Poetry Meeting

Poets from Gjakova led by Din Mehmeti organized and for the first time held the Meeting of the Poetry, on the November of 1964. This very first Meeting was organized on the City Park, where its works were read by poets mostly from Gjakova like: Din Mehmeti, Enver Gjerqeku, Ali Olloni, Ganimete Nura, etc. The success that had the first Meeting, lead on creating the Literary Club 'Gjon Nikolle Kazazi' on the 19th of April 1966 and since then the Club decided that the Meeting should be traditional and to have a wider character, and also as a definitive date was decided to be the 9th of May. A special annual of the Meeting, is the one of the 1968, which coincided with the 500 annual of the death of Gjergj Kastrioti - Skenderbeu. Since 1983 The Literary Club 'Gjon Nikolle Kazazi', which is the organizer of the Meeting, decided to give a reward for the best poem, this prize for the first time won by the poem Esad Mekuli. On 1989, the Meeting was not held, because on that time the Kosovo autonomy was supreme, which it had within Yugoslovia as a Republic, therefore were forbidden most of the cultural events.

During the years 1993, 1994 and 1995, the Meeting was displaced to Pristina, on the offices of the Kosovo Writers League, because in Gjakova it was impossible to be organized from the continued repression from Serbian structures, of the time. And during the years 1996 and 1997 it was again brought back to Gjakova, on the offices of the LDK (Kosovo Democratic League). On 1998 it was organized at all, because of the war, during the time. After the war, on 1999 The Literary Club continued holding the Meeting, and on that year it had special symbolic because it was held on the ruins, the war left, on Gjakova, specially in Old Carshia. Since 2011 was decided that the main prize to be called 'Din Mehmeti' (was the first who initiated the Meeting), whom died a year ago. This Meeting, still continues, and it is the only one of this kind, on the whole Albanian-spoken territory and even wider. It has become traditional and the last year the main prize was won by an Israeli poet. This year (2014) has its 50-th jubilee anniversary.^[18][19]

References