Is the Albanian Night worth it?
The Albanian Night is a cultural show that showcases Albania’s culture to visitors every night at 7:00 PM in the center of the capital city, Tirana.
In our opinion, Albanian Night is absolutely worth it and is an unmissable activity on your first visit to Albania.
During the Albanian Night show, you can see dance styles from the three main regions of Albania: south, central, and north. In addition to captivating music, singing, and dancing, the Albanian Night follows a storyline that engages all spectators in learning about various aspects of Albanian culture up close.
During the show, you will also have the opportunity to see and hear three UNESCO-recognized traditions.
The first one is the Dance of Tropoja (K’cimi i Tropojës), a folk dance originating in the rugged north, the second is the Iso-Polyphony Singing (it sounds beautiful!), and the third is the traditional highlander dress, also associated with the northern region.
Additionally, as you will see in the show, Albanians also celebrate sadness by singing, not only happiness, which is another unique part of their culture.
Where does the Albanian night take place?
Albanian Night takes place on a street adjacent to Skanderbeg Square, the main plaza in Tirana’s city center, making it easily accessible for everyone.
Since Tirana is a walkable city for tourists, we recommend staying in the city center.
A perfect choice in Tirana are the Faces and Places Hotel and Metro Hotel.
For couples like us, we highly recommend Sunflower Rooms, where we stayed (or the suite next door), as it’s perfectly located, clean, and has many amenities.
Can you take part in the Albanian Night show?
Albanian Night is designed to be an interactive cultural show, where you are encouraged to participate in the performance and follow the storyline closely.
Now you might probably wonder how you can take part in an organized cultural show, as that’s usually not the case.
First, it’s the dress-up in traditional Albanian clothes. Ask for a complete outfit, not just the top part. We did so ourselves, and it was such a fun way to enjoy the show.
Second, it’s the ability to participate in the dialogue and storyline of the show through comments, expressions of awe, surprise, shock, and sometimes even walking onto the show floor. In our case, Matej was chosen for a part. It was so fun!
Third, it’s the dancing, which you will have multiple opportunities to do during the show. This way, you can try out each style of the dance yourself and see if you can catch the rhythm and steps.
Arijana is from Croatia, where they have a similar style of dancing, and she picked it up very fast.
Matej, on the other hand, almost perfected the first dance, but struggled A LOT with the other two. But hey, it’s all part of the experience, and since it’s a group effort, you can all struggle together!
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Our thoughts about the Albanian Night
We loved watching and taking part in the Albanian Night show in Tirana!
It was the perfect start to our Albanian adventure, and it’s great to see young Albanians preserving their culture in this cultural center. And of course, sharing it with all of us.
We haven’t been on any similar show before, but we heard they could be boring. Albanian Night is not! It’s a FUN way to spend some time learning about Albania’s culture.
After the show, a dinner is also available, which you can add to your booking when reserving the show.
However, we personally did not take part in the dinner after the show. As we eat vegetarian, the list of dishes didn’t seem the best for us.
If, however, you are a meat-eater, going to dinner after the show is a great idea to try out some delicious traditional dishes.
We did read from other travelers’ reviews that the dinner could be improved. But, since this is a relatively new activity (less than a year old), we’re sure they will make improvements to make it a fantastic introduction to Albanian cuisine, especially for those doing this activity on one of the first days in the country.
Other than that, the Albanian Night is a must-do in Tirana and Albania!
