Foreigners and Albanians in Shkodra/ Carnival atmosphere

2025-02-23 15:31:00, Qyteti im CNA

Shkodra celebrated Carnival for 7 days in a row, a centuries-old tradition of this city. Fun, music and humor lit up the atmosphere. Along with the people of Shkodra, visitors from other cities, but also foreigners, joined this celebration.

"I participated in the carnival because it's very beautiful in Shkodra and this is the most beautiful thing. I come from Tirana and we're having a great time, " said a citizen.

" I feel good, I'm excited, I'm having a great time. I came to Shkodra just to celebrate and enjoy the Carnival. It's my first time here and I'm enjoying it ," said a foreign tourist.

Another visitor said he went to Shkodra to see the burning of the scarecrow.

" I like carnivals because they are beautiful and very enthusiastic, it is a beautiful tradition. I came to see the scarecrow being burned and the people being burned," said the visitor.

"I chose to come because it is a celebration that has a variety of colors, with Venetian masks, it makes you feel good and forget about the stressful daily routine ," the citizen says.

Venetian costumes and masks were the highlight of these carnivals for 7 consecutive days.

" We decided to participate to do something different and invite everyone to participate. These days have been very beautiful and we had a great time. This is a Venetian costume that symbolizes the classics," said one participant.

"We are from Korça. Everything is wonderful. We in Korça have this as a tradition and celebrate it generation after generation, it is a 200-300 year old pagan celebration," said a local resident.

"I like carnivals because they are a very beautiful celebration," said a citizen. "It is a celebration of colors, there are many students and diversity. I adapted my outfit to the environment, a light blue suit."

" I also want to give my contribution to this celebration and to the city so that the celebration becomes as widespread and as famous as possible throughout Albania. This is a Venetian costume made specifically for this celebration, it is a costume that goes from Shkodra to Venice and comes back here that we use ," said a participant who had a Venetian costume.

Unlike previous years, the parade of floats with characters, messages and expressions from Shkodra brought a beautiful experience to those present. Throughout this week, the central squares of Shkodra were filled with energy, games and music in the evening hours by some of the best Albanian artists.

The carnivals culminated with the burning of the scarecrow that personifies the removal of evil and heralds the arrival of spring./ CNA