Soon we turn to Chapter 4 of UNTOLD, the tale of the Realm of Night and Magic, guarded by the Ancient Magician. As a concept, UNTOLD is Transylvania’s untold story and, for four years now, with each new edition of the UNTOLD festival, we have met new fairy-tale characters and symbols that lead us into the struggle of good versus evil, on the magical realm called UNTOLD, which spans 230,000 sq m in the heart of Cluj.

Every summer, Cluj lives four days and four nights like a fairy tale, as the city is transformed: the central park becomes The Forest, the Someș becomes The River, Piața Unirii turns into The Citadel, the stadium becomes The Arena or, more recently, The Dragon’s Nest or The Wolf’s Nest. The stages also have storybook names: The Forest (by Banca Transilvania J), Alchemy, Daydreaming, Earth Spirit, Time. You’ll find the fairy-tale characters and elements everywhere — in the decorations, the staging of the shows, the festival’s entire visual identity.

UNTOLD means concerts, hundreds of artists, street food and experiences. The brands supporting the festival are increasingly coming with interactive campaigns built on engaging participants. More and more people are joining the story: last year, to experience Chapter 3 live, over 330,000 participants came to UNTOLD. Banca Transilvania is, again this year, a true “untolder,” as the festival’s official bank.

Let’s go back to that “once upon a time” moment, when the festival’s organizers announced the start of the UNTOLD story four years ago: Transylvania can currently be considered Romania’s most successful brand and, by partnering with the festival, we want to build the UNTOLD Universe for the long term — the perfect blend of the mythology of the night and the magic of Transylvania. The festival’s strength will come precisely from the region’s history. The central character, the bridge between the two worlds, is the Magician. There will be other characters, easy to understand even for people who are not from Romania, characters present at the festival in different forms, in a way that blends classical fairy-tale elements with those of our times. We have drawn on our cultural heritage, of fairy tales and urban legends, to bring to the fore several characters from the fantastic world.

Chapter I: The Three-Headed Dragon

The UNTOLD story began with the Three-Headed Dragon as its central character — in its friendly version J. Together with other Romanian characters — Greuceanu, Praslea cel Voinic and Ileana Cosanzeana — they “took over” the city and quickly befriended festivalgoers, who decided then and there to return a year later for Chapter II of the story.

Chapter II: The Magician

UNTOLD continued with another central character, the Magician, the only one who can travel through time and link the mythology of the night with the magic of Transylvania, the fantastic world with the real one. Beyond his supernatural power, he wields symbols such as the mirror — a portal that marks the boundary between worlds; the moon — which lights up all that is unseen; and the harp — whose music can bring anything to life. 

Chapter III: The Dragon

A new chapter, a new character: the Magician brought the Dragon into the story at a time when the balance between good and evil was tipping toward evil, and a dark force had taken hold of the Earth. Wanting to help people, the Magician met the Dragon — a protector — on an August night, in the Hoia – Baciu forest, in the heart of Transylvania. Endowed with knowledge of all things seen and unseen, the Dragon gives him four stones with magical powers — Love, Hope, Courage and Trust — symbols of qualities each of us has. Through the magic of this gift, the knights of the age unleashed the power of Good across the Earth, defeating Evil. Thousands of years later, during the four magical UNTOLD nights, festivalgoers had the chance to rediscover the power of the Dragon’s stones.

Chapter 4: Wolf Spirit

In 2018, we reach Chapter 4 of the story, so on August 2–5 this year we’ll meet the Warrior King and the Priestess of Wisdom. He is the protector of the land of UNTOLD, stronger than any other being on Earth, and she has the gift of foretelling the future and keeping evil from appearing. Their spirit animal is the wolf and, for that reason, they can summon the Wolf Spirit. The two lead an army of warrior wolves who, together with the Dragon, will protect the fantastical realm of UNTOLD in the days ahead.

These are the first four chapters of the UNTOLD story. And, as the saying goes, onward with the tale — there’s much more to come. The UNTOLD story continues.