THE HALF-CENTURY HISTORY OF FESTIVALS IN KOSOVO: HEIR TYPES, DISTRIBUTION AND TOURIST IMPACT

Festivals are occasions when people come together, usually with positive intentions. Conceived in a specific area and experiencing a global trend, they are increasingly being studied in various fields, among which also in the tourism geography. A general study on this topic was missing in Kosovo. Even more so, research in the field of tourism geography was entirely lacking; For this reason, this study, along with an analysis of the tourist impact of these festivals, constitut es the purpose of this paper. The study adopted a mixed methodology, using both primary and secondary sources. The main findings were derived through semi-structured interviews and ethnographic methods. Based on this approach, the results showed that festivals in Kosovo began in the middle of the 20th century. Their development followed an oscillating pattern, a trend common to festival evolution worldwide, yet distinct in the Kosovan context. With 26 out of 146 recognized festivals which are now defunct, the paper illustrates an unstable trajectory. Their high number, unfortunately, emphasized quantity over quality. Only a relatively small percentage demonstrated consistency in programming and sustained efforts, despite both past and ongoing challenges. The most critical early challenges occurred during the 1990s, when Serbian repression in Kosovo peaked. Organizing festivals during that time required significant courage to defy Serbian police and military forces. Contemporary challenges, no less important, revolve around limited budgets, weak programming, poor quality control, and the lack of institutional oversight. Music festivals emerged as the most dominant, followed by visual arts, and the third constituting theatre ones, while the highest concentration is found in Pristina, Prizren, and Ferizaj. Their social, cultural, and economic impacts on both the local and national communities have been assessed as partially positive. To improve sustainability, the paper recommends: (the first) greater institutional support, and (the second) the revitalization of both the creative and financial capacities of festival managers.