How UNTOLD Festival’s “Blood Network Campaign” Is Saving Lives In Romania

by Michael Ryan · Published May 21, 2024

A decade later, the organizers of UNTOLD Festival are proving that there's much more to electronic dance music than meets the ear.

Last week saw the return of their "Blood Network Campaign," the longest-running blood donation initiative in Romania, which is now in its 10th iteration. The initiative has saved over 60,000 lives since its inception, drawing over 18,000 donors through its creative incentive program, according to UNTOLD.

Launched alongside the first UNTOLD Festival in 2015, the "Blood Network Campaign" encourages blood donations by offering free tickets to Romania's largest beach music festival, Neversea, as well as the flagship UNTOLD fest in Cluj-Napoca. This year's UNTOLD will feature headlining performances by Swedish House Mafia, Sam Smith, Martin Garrix, Black Coffee, FISHER and more.

The "Blood Network Campaign" is designed to address Romania’s critical need for blood donations, with more than 500,000 units required annually. The campaign runs from May 18th to June 30th, when a mobile caravan visits locations in 10 cities across Romania: Cluj, Timișoara, Bucharest, Craiova, Giurgiu, Târgu Mureș, Zalău, Constanța, Târgu Jiu and Ploiești.

Donors who give blood at the mobile caravan receive free festival tickets while those who donate at transfusion centers will benefit from discounted festival passes. The campaign is made possible in partnership with the "Și Eu Donez" platform as well as support from Kaufland Romania and Romania’s National Institute of Blood Transfusion.

"Seeing how the passion for music transforms into an extraordinary gesture of donating blood is wonderful," said Edy Chereji, Co-Founder of UNTOLD Universe. "Donating blood is an act of generosity and a gesture of solidarity and compassion towards others. This year, the Blood Network caravan will reach ten cities in Romania, and we welcome good-hearted people to the mobile caravan and transfusion centers across the country. We are confident that many people will want to do a good deed this year, save a life, and enjoy our festival experiences, whether at UNTOLD or Neversea."

Neversea takes place from July 4-7 in Constanța and will feature headliners such as Maluma, Bebe Rexha, Alok, Mahmut Orhan and Sofi Tukker, among others. UNTOLD Festival is slated to follow from August 8-11.

More information and tickets for both festivals can be found at neversea.com and untold.com.