Electric Castle is a unique festival experience that takes place on the amazing domain of Banffy Castle in Transylvania, Romania. It shakes up the way people interact with a festival by combing an eclectic musical lineup with arts, technology and a visually innovative concept. One of Europe’s few truly 24-hour festivals, Electric Castle is a 5-day festival that takes place yearly in Bonțida, a tiny historic village near Cluj-Napoca.
By mixing arts and technology with an eclectic musical line-up, unique architectural concept and the breathtaking scenery of the amazing medieval castle, Electric Castle redefines the way people interact with a music festival, breaking the boundaries between electronic music and reggae, mainstream and subculture.
Watch a video of last year’s edition!
Last year, we put together a list of things you could do at the festival besides showing up at your favorite artist’s set. This included the “Reveria” circus show (a collaboration between the Metropolitan Circus of Bucharest and Cirque du Soleil), two beach volleyball courts, activities tents (everything from yoga to board games) and reverse bungee jumping. This year, you’ll be seeing most of the attractions previously mentioned, alongside a brand-new, top-secret ice rink. Is this Christmas in July?
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The variety of activities available at Electric Castle is overwhelmingly big—but so are their efforts to save our planet, restore century-old sights and promote local artists, especially women.
Preserving the surrounding area
Bonțida
With breathtaking sights and amazing surroundings, Banffy Castle is the home of the festival. The castle opened its doors to the public during the fifth edition of Electric Castle, hosting an array of exhibitions and interactive art installations. Every year, the organizers of the festival try to contribute to the restoration of one of Romania’s forgotten landmarks, supporting the Banffy Castle custodians in their long-term efforts to preserve the cultural heritage and attract more visitors. Alongside local authorities, they invest in the castle and village infrastructure, creating new jobs opportunities for the community and bolstering local economy. After the successful restoration of the castle’s roof thanks to generous donations, they are now focusing on reinforcing and consolidating the frame structure.
Photo: Vlad Sargu/Unsplash
Cluj-Napoca
One of Romania’s most visited cities, Cluj-Napoca (Cluj, for short) is the heart of Transylvania and the region’s unofficial capital. A student-city filled with art, culture and charm, Cluj offers a cool urban atmosphere that will guarantee you an amazing time.
Promoting new media
This year, the Castle flips into an art installation! Some of the world’s best new media artists will create custom-made artworks for the festival, alongside local artists from Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj.
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Women are headlining
Female artists are at the forefront of this year’s edition of Electric Castle. Florence + The Machine will headline the festival. Loredana, a popular Romanian singer, will also be joining the Main Stage. The festival’s mission throughout the years has been to promote local and national musical acts. The following are four female lead-singer projects performing, which will spark your interest in Romanian indie again: Zimbru, Valeria Stoica, Zmei3 and Marú.
Environment first
Electric Castle is a festival built with a focus on the environment and sustainability. Each edition sees a small city being raised from scratch, yet extra steps are taken every year to reduce the festival’s footprint. By 2020, the festival aims to eliminate all plastic containers and utensils used inside the festival perimeter. They’ve pledged to only invite and partner with food and drinks vendors that will use recyclable or bio-degradable materials for containers, plates, cutlery and cups.
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A special area dedicated to “EC ECO” activities will be created inside and around the amphitheater near the Royal Market, the festival’s own Lidl supermarket. Activities include daily workshops where everyone can learn to rethink plastic—transforming different plastic containers into personalized accessories—or how to transform ordinary plastic bags into decorative elements using simple tools you can find around the house. Fun games will be created to engage fans in waste collection and special prizes will be awarded to the most environmentally conscious festival participants.
During the five days, 200,000 people will be consuming three meals per day, which is a lot of food—and waste. Every day, usable leftover food will be collected from all around the festival. Cluj Food-bank will share it with different NGOs from Cluj that can further distribute it to those in need.
Photo: Electric Castle/Facebook
You can find the line-up of the seventh edition of Electric Castle above. A limited number of tickets are still available here. We will also be covering the festival in real time! For more content from EC, follow us on Instagram at @theaffinitymag.
