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Korça hosts the international brass band festival/ "LuluFest", an event that unites art and tourism

2025-10-22 12:10:00, Qyteti im CNA

Korça hosts the international brass band festival/ "LuluFest",

In the city of serenades and musical tradition, Korça, the first edition of the International Wind Band Festival “Air Beat Festival”, or as it is otherwise known, #LuluFest, begins. For three days in a row, from October 24 to 26, the city will be enlivened by the rhythms of wind orchestras, exhibitions, parades, professional master classes and gala concerts, which will turn Korça into a major musical and festive center. The festival is organized by the Center for Culture and Innovation in cooperation with the Municipality of Korça, and has gathered over 150 artists from Albania, Croatia, Italy, Kosovo and Greece, who will perform in squares, boulevards and cultural venues of the city. This activity is intended as an event that combines art, culture and tourism, aiming to turn Korça into a regional center of wind music and promote its rich heritage.

Korça hosts the international brass band festival/ "LuluFest",

The Director of the Cultural Center emphasizes that this festival marks an important moment for the city, as it is the first time Korça is hosting an international event of this level. She underlines that the choice of the city is not accidental, as Korça has a long history with brass bands, which are part of its cultural identity. According to her, the festival brings to attention the heritage of the “Vatra” band and the Korça band, formations that have accompanied the cultural and historical life of the city over the years.

" I have the pleasure of presenting one of the most important festivals such as the Wind Band Festival. It is the first edition and I believe that this festival will be a brand for the city of Korça. It is not without reason that it is held in Korça, as it is known that wind orchestras are part of the identity of Korça but also of all of Albania. This is because of the Vatra Band, the Korça band that has been one of the most important formations of the city's cultural life and has accompanied us in historical events but also various celebrations. I am happy that this festival is curated by Ilir Kodhima, a professor at the Academy of Arts. He has taken care to have high-quality bands, we will have bands from Croatia, Italy, Kosovo, the Armed Forces and a quintet that comes to us from Thessaloniki but also Tirana under the direction of professor and conductor Edmond Doko. I hope that this 3-night festival will be an important event not only for Korça's art lovers but also an exchange of experiences for artists and wind instrumentalists. It will be a rich calendar for 3 days. We start on October 24th with a retro Korça exhibition where we will have never-before-exhibited wind instruments, historical photos of the bands, we will remember prominent personalities who have made an extraordinary contribution to this type of music or these instruments. We will have a march on two nights of all the participating bands, we will have on the 25th a master class by masters of wind instruments to culminate on the 25th at the National Fighter with the gala program that we call LuluFest. Meanwhile, on the 26th we will have the Retro Art exhibition again and in the evening at the GAD there will be the quintet by the master and conductor Edmond Doko. I hope that this event will also be a tourism event for the city."

Korça hosts the international brass band festival/ "LuluFest",

Artistic director Ilir Kodhima says that this festival is conceived as a space for collaboration and exchange between professional and young artists. According to him, during these three days Korça will be buzzing with brass music, with new collaborations between local and foreign artists and with the aim of bringing the younger generations closer to brass instruments. He emphasizes the importance of the master classes that take place within the festival, as a way to raise the professional level of musicians and to restore the love for the instruments that were once an inseparable part of the city's cultural life.

"Jam shumë i emocionuar dhe surprizuar nga i gjithë profesonalizmi dhe koordinimi në mënyrë shumë profesionale të gjithë pjesëmarrësve që e bënë të mundur këtë organizim. Janë mbi 150 artistë që do të jenë gjatë këtyre tre ditëve në Korçë, të cilët bashkëpunojnë me njëri tjetrin dhe kontribuojnë për të rinjtë e këtij qyteti për ti afruar me artin e kulturën. Gjithashtu për të kontribuar në ngritjen e nivelit artistik të qytetit të Korçës, artdashësit e rinj, por edhe artistët e orkestrës simfonike dhe frymore të qytetit. Gjatë këtyre tre ditëve do të ketë bashkëpunime dhe stimulime për bashkëpunime më të gjera rreth artistëve që do të bashkëpunojnë me bandën e Korçës për të shkëmbyer eksperiencën e tyre. Dua të cek që ky festival është pak më i gjerë në fushën e artit pasi në mesin e tij ka master class-e, në oboe, klarinetë, fagot, flaut, korno, duke i afruar të rinjtë e duke i dhënë një qasje ndryshe në instrumentat e tunxhit. Shpresoj shumë në kontributin tonë për afrimin e këtyre brezave dhe kthimin e asaj dashurie rreth instrumentave të tunxhit si 100 vite më parë. Korça këto tre ditë do të gumëzhijë nga orkestra frymorë që do ti japë një hov festiv në rrugët e këtij qyteti dhe gjëja më madhore do të jetë në sheshin ku do të mbahet koncerti, ku çdo orkestëe frymore do të performojë dhe në fund do të mblidhen gjithë artistët në një vepër të përbashkët që është "Kush do më shumë Shqipërinë."."

Nga ana e saj, nënkryetarja e Bashkisë, Benila Themeli, thekson se festivali shihet si një mundësi e rëndësishme për zhvillimin e turizmit kulturor. Ajo e konsideron “Air Beat Festival” një element të rëndësishëm të ofertës së re turistike që bashkia po ndërton për Korçën, duke synuar ta përfshijë në paketat që ofrohen nga agjencitë kombëtare e rajonale. Sipas saj, sa më të mëdha dhe gjithëpërfshirëse të jenë ngjarjet që zhvillohen në qytet, aq më i madh është interesi i vizitorëve. Festivali, që mbështetet në traditën e bandës “Vatra” dhe përkon me ditët e çlirimit të qytetit, pritet të bëhet një element identifikues i kulturës korçare dhe i hapjes së saj drejt rajonit.

Emërtimi “LuluFest” i festivalit vjen si homazh për artistin e njohur korçar Lulushin, një figurë e dashur dhe e respektuar që përfaqëson shpirtin e muzikës frymore shqiptare.

"For Korça, this international band festival is seen by the municipality not simply as an artistic and cultural event for the residents of the Korça territory, but also as an opportunity to attract many visitors to Korça. This is the first edition and, for this reason, we have also paid special attention to the promotion of the festival, which I am convinced will be part of the calendar of many tourist agencies in the coming years. This is because for the first time we have started establishing contacts a year in advance, before preparing the tourist packages that national agencies and those of the countries of the region draft for Korça. One of the five pillars of the tourist offer, as we have classified it in the municipality for Korça, is undoubtedly the pillar of events and the more comprehensive, larger and more valuable the activities are, the more internationalized they are, the greater the interest of visitors to attend them. And of course, based also on prominent elements of the Korça tradition, such as the support of this festival in the tradition of the famous band "Vatra", and which coincides not coincidentally with an important day for Korça, with a day of liberation. So, it is not by chance that the Art Center has chosen to have this festival at the end of October. I believe that it will multiply the value of the festival, becoming an identifying element of culture, of the Korça tradition, but also of the geographical openness that Korça has for culture, with the aim of becoming an important center of art and culture, not only in Albania, but in all countries of the region".

Everyone knows, not only the people of Korça, but also beyond, the famous Lulush. And in tribute and honor of the figure of this spiritual artist, who has surpassed the dimensions of Korça and is one of the greatest talents that Albania has had in spiritual art, the festival, conventionally, in addition to "Airbeat Festival", which is its international name, also has the hashtag LuluFest, in honor of the figure of the great Lulush."

On the evening of October 26, the activities culminate with a concert at the Digital Gallery, where the Aeolos Brass Quintet, from the Thessaloniki Orchestra, and the Albanian Brass Quintet, with established Albanian artists, will perform.

This concert will conclude three days of rich artistic events, which are expected to leave special traces in the cultural life of the city. For three nights, Korça will live to the rhythm of wind music, with sounds that unite tradition and modern spirit. “Air Beat Festival”, or “LuluFest”, is a return to the city’s musical roots and an invitation to experience Korça through art that breathes life./ CNA