UNTOLD Festival

Hello all!

UNTOLD Festival is one of the biggest festivals in Europe held in Cluj-Napoca. It celebrates 2 years from its start back in 2015, when Cluj-Napoca became the European Union’s ‘Capital of Youth’. In the following year (meaning 2016) the festival was organized again. And it was undoubtedly successful. I bet, it’s going to be continued! On UNTOLD You can find interesting informations about the festival, I will just give a general description about it.

UNTOLD Festival won the ‘Best Major Festival’ award in 2015, and near this the ‘Brand of the Year’ title also in 2015. Cluj becomes ‘The capital of World and Magic’ every July/August for 4 days and 4 nights. However, the presence of this great UNTOLD Festival divides Cluj’s life in two camps. On the one hand, people from Cluj are against this festival, on the other, there are supportive citizens. UNTOLD induces constroversies. Some people say that the resources of Cluj are not enough to handle the situation. Hosting 300. 000 visitors cannot be fulfilled without influencing, even in a negative way the city. The noise, the lights, the crowded streets and public places, agglomerated public transportation and increasing prices in the shops, are all characteristics which can bother the calmness of the citizens the peace of Cluj-Napoca. Nevertheless, there’s a raise in Cluj’s cultural life, a huge amount of money flows in, the profit is big, and Cluj-Napoca’s reputation increases among Europe and the World.

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UNTOLD Festival is constructed on the topic of magic, mistery, fantasy and abstract. The UNTOLD story is in fact a fable. The whole design of the festival illustrates surreal motives, available only in the land of supernatural. Giant monsters, wolves, miraculous flowers are just some aspects among the elements of design. The main venues of the festival are: Central Park, Cluj Arena, the Sport Hall, the Main Square and the Old Town. There are stages near the Somes river, in the Parks and of course in the city centre as well. Still, the main stage is located in Cluj Arena, the biggest stadium in Transylvania.

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The music palette is so wide at UNTOLD, that anyone can find the music for his/her taste. It’s mostly fundamentally electronic music (house, techno, deep-house, disco), but there’s dubstep and drum’n’bass terrace, also a rock stage, Romanian music and alternative music too though. Nevertheless, the World's most famous Dj’s are in the focus of attention. The past years’ greatest performers were: Armin van Buuren, Avicii, David Guetta, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Hardwell, Martin Garrix, Parov Stelar, Scooter, Rudimental, John Newman, Tom Odell, so the most popular singers and Dj’s of nowadays, creators of leading hits in the whole World. Usually the concerts begin at 5-6 in the evening, and last till 5-6 a. m. Strange idea, but many artists mix and do an ‘overtime show’ staying more on scene than planned before. This is perhaps because of the great energy coming from the audience. They just can't stop mixing.

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UNTOLD nights always end in fireworks, and one of the biggest strength of the festival is its world of light and visual effects.

Accomodation and food: UNTOLD citizens can easily find accommodation in Cluj. There’s cheap and nice camping opportunity on a beautiful hill near the city (its disadvantage is, that’s quite far from the city centre). But many flats and apartments can be rent anywhere else. These cost more, prices are high due to the fact that many international people come to visit Cluj. Food is in general cheap (perfect suitable for the average European budget of the average European visitors). My advice is to buy as many food and drink from supermarkets as possible, because on the territory of the festival prices are 5-10 times higher. Of course UNTOLD Festival offers quality food, and cool beverages and well, yeah, it’s festival time, and holiday, and you can spend money infinitely. But don’t have remorses afterwards, if your money is away. There are very good canteens and places where to eat in the city centre, and I would recommend trying the authentic food as well during Your visit. And money can be saved this way!

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Programmes: You can read useful tips and advices about where to go and what to visit in Cluj, in my previous post: 6 questions about Cluj. Anyway on the territory of the festival you can choose between the following programmes: watching acrobatic shows, theatre performances, you can take a walk at ‘Fashion Story’, where you can buy clothes and accessories designed by famous Romanian designers, you can meditate in the company of tibetian bowls. Body-painting, urban art workshops and gastronomy tours can also be alternatives. There are also civic, public and charity activities organized at UNTOLD, like disputes, work-shops, recycling activities or the very important blood donation campaign.

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Outside the festival, you can go swimming (if there’s hot outside, it’s a perfect activity). Hiking in the surrounding hills is another opportunity. You can experience horse riding in riding halls, visit plazas or discover the old town. You are going to be busy all the time, so be careful with your physical condition, and don’t forget to sleep a bit as well.

Thanks for reading, Dora

(If You're interested about more writings of mine, click on the following link: Dora)

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