Before going to Albania I knew very little about it. I’d never thought of going there, I’d never seen any pictures and if someone had asked me to locate it on a map I’d undoubtedly have struggled (though, with geography knowledge as pitiful as mine, the same is probably true for many countries). It’s no surprise then that I was unaware that in 2018 the country hosted its first international music festival; an event of such importance that the Prime Minister attended to mark its opening.
After a two-year Covid imposed hiatus Kala Festival was back for its third round this summer on the sun-drenched stretch of shoreland affectionately known as the Albanian Riviera on the southwest coast of the Balkan country. It was last minute (as the best plans normally are) that a friend and I decided, why not? Raves, waves, sunshine and cheap beer — could a Brit worth their salt ever refuse?
Getting there
You have two options to get to Kala Festival: fly to Albania’s capital city, Tirana, and drive to the coast, or fly to Corfu in Greece and board a boat to Dhermi. We chose the latter, imagining cool, chilled out and scenic skip across the ocean.
The reality was less glamorous: we sat in a sweaty cabin as the driver of the boat battled powerful waves and sudden biblical showers. Neither of us, thankfully, felt seasick.
The stages and first impression
Kala Festival has five stages: Empire, the main stage; Splendour, a wooden dance floor next to the water’s edge; The Cove, a gorgeous, intimate, pebbled beach (wear trainers); Yacht Club, a raised, covered terrace over the sea; and Gjipe, a beachside forest at the mouth of a dramatic canyon that’s only accessible by boat.
They’re all very impressive however on the first night we were mildly concerned to find them near-deserted except a few panicked staff putting the final touches to the decorations and a bloke putting the lights up.
Nonplussed and tired from the journey we called it a night.
‘No rain for 25 years’
The really wonderful thing about going to a festival by the sea is that you can spend your days chilling on the beach before the music starts at night. The beaches at the site are really very pretty; rugged, stoney coves with crystalline waters and if you want to venture away from the festival crowds (mainly Brits) you can go further along the coastline.
The other great thing about Kala is that as well as its focus on quality and eclectic dance music (Disco, House, Synth Pop, Rare Groove, Funk, Soul, Jazz and Techno) there’s also a focus on wellness; in the day you can attend yoga classes, gong baths, paddle-boarding etc all of which sound like fantastic ideas when you’re not hungover. I’m sorry to report that despite having the best of intentions we failed to attend any of these activities.
As if to make up for the slow start, the second night of the festival was very dramatic. We headed out amid a huge thunderstorm; it rained so heavily, in fact, that it temporarily shut down all of the stages and forced soaked festival goers to run for shelter at nearby restaurants.
In one of the most hilarious displays of keep calm and carry on that I have ever seen, one of the restaurants, Luciano’s (N.B. amazing food) which has a huge covered outdoor area, rapidly morphed into a faux-stage. People were dancing on chairs, mass singalongs broke out and my very-ebullient-but-in-no-way-a-DJ friend even took to a laptop which was linked to the restaurant’s sound system to play a string of cheesy bangers which went down a storm (no pun intended). Her ‘set’ was so well received that the owner thanked her with the biggest tray of shots I have ever seen.
Once the downpour stopped the music resumed and going from stage to stage we had an amazing night. The next day we met one of the organisers who’d been in charge of picking the date of the festival who explained she’d picked that week in June as it hadn’t rained at that time in Dhermi for 25 years.
Secluded sunbathing and dancing in the moonlight
One of the highlights (apart from my friend’s impromptu set) was a day trip we did to an incredible beach called Gjipe, where one of the stages is located. It’s a truly beautiful beach with soft sand, aquamarine water and caves to explore all set to a backdrop of a strikingly enormous canyon.
You reach it by boat from Dhermi, which is fun in itself, and spend the day there sunbathing, swimming and listening to music. While I must admit I was a little too merry to truly pay attention to much of the music at Kala one moment that sticks in my memory was dancing at Splendour stage, right by the water’s edge as a huge full moon bathed ravers in its iridescent glow and crashing waves competed with the DJ for who had more rhythm.
All in all despite the rain and a few teething problems that you’d expect of a new festival, we had a great time and with such a lush location Kala has the potential to be even better.
Tickets for a 7-day stay that includes lodging and a festival wristband start at a very affordable £269 / 310€ per person at the current tier. Festival takes place on May 31st -June 7. Announced acts include Nu Genea, Marcellus Pittman, CC:DISCO!, Mafalda and very special 5hr B2B sets from Hunee & Antal and Moxie & Leon Vynehall alongside yoga sessions, meditation, gong baths, and beach massages.
