Deserted Albanian Village Tries to Keep Ancient Carnival Alive

Centuries later, local inhabitants are trying hard to protect those traditions following a different type of epidemic: mass emigration and population collapse. 

The carnival summons home those that emigrated years ago for three days of festivities. Photo:Nensi Bogdani.

Following the collapse of Communism in Albania in 1991, the inhabitants of Narta, who speak Greek as their mother tongue, left en-masse for Greece and other countries, searching for a better life. 

During Communist times, the village had a reputation for poverty. It was typical fishing village with scarce agricultural land, whose bareness gave birth to a reputation for good quality wine. 

Today, the village is home of no more than 250 inhabitants, a tenth of the 2,500 people that were there three decades ago. 

However, scores of those who left don't miss the chance to return home for the carnival.

The young wear a bear skin that the older and wiser folk in the community beat to 'tame them'. Photo: Nensi Bogdani.

Andrea, one of them, told BIRN that he had returned home each year for the last 33 years, after emigrating to Greece in the early-1990s.

"In no other place you can find such festivities as in Narta," he told BIRN with pride.

Beating the bear' is a game played at the carnival, where the clarinet is the main musical instrument. Photo: Nensi Bogdani.

The clarinet is playing and the youngster are overjoyed as the actors play their roles, some wearing a bear skin, others playing the palaço, the local clown, aiming to have a laugh following the tough times of the winter.

The festivities last for three days at the square in front of the Church of Shen e Diela (St Kyriaki). 

The costumes and...