Innovation FEST is an event fostering connections, exchanging knowledge, and encouraging collaboration to achieve success in a rapidly changing world driven by innovation. INNFest is the place where true wonders of innovation can happen,where the right connections are made, and transformative ideas are born.
Each year, the platform has elevated its own milestones, expanding in scope, ambition, and impact. From the first edition in 2018 that introduced innovation as a public celebration, to the multi-color journey of 2025 that blended industry leaders, startups, businesses, students, and creators, and culture, Innovation Nest continues to redefine what innovation means in a fast-changing world.
It has grown not only in ideas — by inspiring hundreds of new projects and entrepreneurs – but also in opportunities, providing training, mentoring, and direct access to investors.
Even its locations tell a story of progress: from cultural venues like ArTurbina to symbolic spaces like Tirana Olympic Park and Orthodox Cathedral and DownTown 1, the highest point in Tirana; each edition has elevated the experience and the message – that innovation belongs everywhere.
To nurture innovative thinking, empower entrepreneurs, and create sustainable bridges between creativity, business, and technology.
A future where every idea has the chance to grow, connect, and create value — for people, communities, and our country.
The 2026 Innovation Festival will transcend national borders and position Albania as an integrated innovation ecosystem aligned with the EU’s New Growth Plan for the Western Balkans. Our research this year focused on how innovation, entrepreneurship, and regional collaboration can directly contribute to the four pillars of the EU plan.
The New Growth Plan for the Western Balkans is an initiative of the European Commission aimed at accelerating the economic and political integration of the Western Balkan countries into the European Union. The plan seeks to bring the region’s countries closer to the EU before full membership, by providing them with concrete economic and financial benefits already during the pre-accession phase.
