Ten years ago, in the heart of Transylvania when Cluj-Napoca was named the European Youth Capital, Romania’s UNTOLD welcomed over 240,000 attendees to its inaugural event. The festival’s world-class production drew attention from the industry, landing it the Best Major European Festival award that year. It’s continued to raise the bar each time since. 2024’s edition hosted 250 artists across eight stages, attracting some 427,000 visitors, and in the last 12 months, the team has been building on the festival’s offerings — a new mainstage is in the pipeworks, as well as new brand activations on the festival site. Music and production aside, UNTOLD is known for its charity and educational work. Its Blood Network, a campaign which encourages blood donations across Romania in return for a day festival ticket, has received tens of thousands of donations — and saved tens of thousands of lives as a result. To mark its tenth year, UNTOLD regulars like Martin Garrix, Tiësto, Don Diablo and Armin van Buuren are planning special extended sets, and for the first time in the festival’s history attendees will also be offered backstage tours. A community-focused ethos, global crowd and social engagement has stood UNTOLD out from the pack from day one. RIA HYLTON
