Participating in a festival is an altogether singular experience, for several days one embarks on an atypical, mind-bending lifestyle, dictated by frenetic rhythms, visualised by the kilometres and kilometres on the smartphone’s pedometer, sustained by hours of sleep reduced to the bare minimum and meals at times determined by the time-table. And yet, upon returning, an exhausting feeling of emptiness pervades, so that the return to the habitual daily routine becomes a sort of walk through the afterthoughts of what one has just experienced.
And this is what happened at the end of our first media coverage of the Untold Festival, an event that now needs no introduction, capable of bringing the name of Cluj Napoca, the small town in the heart of Transylvania (Romania) on everyone’s lips for no less than nine editions.
Held from 8 to 11 August 2024, Untold Festival involved some 427,000 participants from all over the world, with over 250 artists performing day and night on the 8 stages and various music spots.
Among the most notable were performances by Sam Smith, Lenny Kravitz, Burna Boy, Louis Tomlinson, Swedish House Mafia, Martin Garrix, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Steve Aoki, Timmy Trumpet, Carl Cox, FISHER, Lost Frequencies, Purple Disco Machine, and many more.
A line-up that since the first editions has encompassed a wide variety of musical genres, not only electronic music, which is in any case the protagonist, but also pop, rock, rap, etc. As well as a vast and accessible location in the heart of the city. All this helped bring Untold Festival to the podium of the renowned Dj Mag top festivals, behind only Tomorrowland and EDC Las Vegas.
But let’s come to what was our experience at the festival, premising that unfortunately we could not attend the first day, thus making the experience slightly reduced.
As already mentioned, a great strength of the Untold Festival is the accessibility of the location, the venue being spread out within the vast park adjacent to the Cluj Arena stadium. Easily accessible on foot from all parts of the city, with the possibility of scooter or bicycle hire. Despite this, enhanced public services were provided to reach/leave the area at any hour.
The entrance, corresponding with the end of the park, immediately appears well organised, the entrance is divided between men and women, and despite the meticulous checking of every accessory, and then the wristband check in, in less than 5 minutes we are inside.
From the very first metres of the long avenue around which the festival is branched, and which ends right in front of the arena, or rather the mainstage, we immediately notice the various stands and structures with attention to the smallest detail, with lights, artful photo booths, smoke and colour games.
But here we are at last at the real gateway to the festival, a large ‘Untold’ sign serving as a portal, already recalling the floral/natural theme recurring in the various zones, until it explodes at the mainstage.
On the left we begin to glimpse one of the first protagonists of the festival, the Fortune stage. Set in the context of the garden of the Cluj Cultural Centre, a real villa with fountains and an adjacent pond. The console rises above the building’s access stairs, in the middle of the archway. Definitely an evocative location, which needs no additional set-up.
Continuing on, we encounter Time stage, nestled among the majestic trees of the park, recreating a fairy-tale atmosphere.
Avoiding the entrance to the stage, we reach the Tram stage, which, as the word says, the dance floor is set up right inside an old vintage tram. Really fun.
We go back, past the big arena, and arrive at the other two biggies, the Alchemy, where various Drum And Bass artists, the stage’s prevailing genre, alternating between emerging DJs and more established names like Macky Gee (check out our interview here) and Netsky.
Right next door we find the festival’s only fully covered stage, the Galaxy Stage, inside a sports hall. This is where the main techno names in the line-up performed. In our opinion, due to the importance of the artists taking part, its organisation is a bit to be reviewed. Access has a long queue, and the exit is quite labyrinthine. In addition to the fact that the certainty of access to the dance floor, once you have passed the entrance queue, is not there, as it was for us at FISHER. Certainly small imperfections that are easily remedied.
And finally we come to the Mainstage, the real star of the event, set up inside the huge stadium. The theme is, as already mentioned, flowers, nature and animals. Nothing to say, impeccable stage lighting and special effects.
Even during the most anticipated acts, there is no shortage of space, thanks to the possibility of moving around the stands. The entrances and exits are well coordinated.
In general we found an almost flawless organisation, there were many refreshment areas, distributed in various parts of the festival and set up with food trucks. Waiting times were relatively low, thanks to the many varieties of choice and the numerous bar stations.
Another definitely positive note that we would like to mention is the cleanliness within the area, you rarely found rubbish on the ground, and if there was, it was cleaned up almost immediately. Even at the mainstage between the breaks of about 20 minutes between one act and the next.
We can say that it is a festival for all ages, despite the fact that it is mainly held at night. This was confirmed by the presence of many families with children in tow.
Another key point that caught our attention was the level of security in the various areas of the festival, with the presence of official guards and attendants ready to intervene in every situation, although we personally did not notice any incidents involving the intervention of these.
In conclusion, we consider Untold Festival to be worthwhile, an all-round experience of music and related activities.
Proof of this is the fact that after only a few days of opening ticket sales for the tenth anniversary, which will be held with the 2025 edition, already 40,000 tickets have been sold, sight unseen.
It cannot be said, therefore, that the public has not created a fondness for the festival, also increased by the expectation of an even more special edition created by the important anniversary that will be celebrated.
We look forward to returning for the 10th anniversary, but first, to the winter edition, which will be held for the second time in the setting of Dubai.
Info and tickets Untold Dubai: https://untold.ae/
Info and tickets Untold Festival X: https://www.untold.com/tickets
