Starting Thursday, Cluj-Napoca becomes the center of gravity for European electronic dance music.Ad 0:00 Click for sound 0:00 / 0:00 UNTOLD, Romania’s marquee festival, opens its eleventh edition under a new name: UNTOLD ONE.
The rebrand marks the start of a new decade for an event that has built itself into one of the continent’s largest music gatherings, and this year’s lineup shows exactly why.Dutch EDM icon Martin Garrix is headlining, joined by Carl Cox, Kygo, Marshmello, Steve Aoki and The Chainsmokers, who return to the festival for the first time since 2018.
Sting and Lewis Capaldi add range to a bill that also includes Swae Lee, Flo Rida and Zara Larsson.Across four days and nine stages, more than 200 artists will perform for a crowd expected to top 470,000, spanning house, techno, trance, drum & bass, hip-hop and rock.
That breadth is the point.UNTOLD has never tried to be a single-genre festival, and this year’s expanded stage lineup, including dedicated homes for house and techno on Galaxy and drum & bass on Alchemy, reflects a festival with big ambitions for its next decade.
Organizers have also promised deeper storytelling and bigger production for the new era.The festival’s majestic setting helps as well.
Cluj Arena sits inside a city better known for medieval architecture than mainstage pyrotechnics, and the contrast has become part of UNTOLD’s identity.Central Park, the festival’s secondary hub, offers a quieter counterpoint to the mainstage with hammocks, art installations and smaller stages tucked among the trees.
Organizers have also promised deeper storytelling and bigger production for the new era, though the details remain under wraps until doors open.What is clear is the ambition.
UNTOLD wants to be counted among Europe’s essential festivals, alongside Tomorrowland and Ultra, and this weekend’s lineup makes a strong case that it already...