Untold 2026: the clash guide — planning Cluj before the set times drop

Untold takes over Cluj-Napoca on 6–9 August 2026: four nights around the Cluj Arena, running deep into the morning, with a Main stage built for fireworks and four very different worlds around it. The 2026 edition has 85 acts announced across five stages — the day-by-day lineup is published, but hourly set times aren't out yet (Untold traditionally drops the full timetable in the festival app only days before gates). This guide is how to plan anyway — and it will be updated with real clash calls the moment times land.

FestWave is an independent tool — not affiliated with Untold. Lineup per the official daily schedule; always confirm times in the official app once they're live.

How Untold clashes actually work

You don't need the timetable to know where the pain will be. Untold's five stages are five genres, and the big names on each stage all play the same late-evening window every year. Three structural truths:

• Main vs Galaxy is the nightly fault line. Main is EDM, pop and fireworks; Galaxy is the underground room — techno, tech house and Romania's beloved rominimal scene. Their headline slots overlap every single night, so if your taste spans both, you already have four clashes before a single time is published.
• The night is long — use it. Untold routinely runs past 05:00. Headliners land roughly 22:00–02:00, but Galaxy and Alchemy program real names into the small hours. Losing a 23:00 clash often just means winning the 03:00 slot instead.
• Alchemy is Romania's stage. Drum and bass bookings share it with the country's biggest hip hop and trap acts. If you're a visitor, one Romanian-rap set at Alchemy with a local crowd is worth any headliner; if you're local, this is where your hardest choices live.

Thursday 6 August — the odd-couple opener

Main stage alone is a genre whiplash: Sting and The Chainsmokers on the same bill, with James Hype's tech house and Maddix's hard techno around them. The night's real tension: Carl Cox headlines Galaxy — and a Cox set in a clash window against The Chainsmokers is the easiest taste-test at the whole festival. Nic Fanciulli plus rominimal duo Priku and Cezar keep Galaxy honest afterwards, WhoMadeWho's hybrid set has Daydreaming to itself, and Sigma brings the first d'n'b of the weekend to Alchemy.

Friday 7 August — the pop-EDM peak

The most mainstream night: Marshmello, Kygo, Swae Lee and Zara Larsson stack Main, with Sebastian Ingrosso and Tchami underneath. Opposite them, Galaxy goes deep — Gordo, Maceo Plex, then a rominimal run (Arapu, Cristi Cons, Mihigh) that will carry until sunrise. Alchemy is the wildcard: Pendulum's DJ set and bbno$ against Paraziții, one of Romanian hip hop's founding acts. And Daydreaming quietly books the connoisseur pairing of the weekend — Sébastien Léger and Mano Le Tough, melodic house both, presumably back to back in the evening. Kygo-vs-Maceo-vs-Léger is Friday's three-way genre referendum.

Saturday 8 August — the biggest night

Every stage brings a headliner. Main: Martin Garrix, Lewis Capaldi, Lost Frequencies. Galaxy: Solomun and Mau P, with Holy Priest and Joseph Capriati stretching techno into the morning. Alchemy: Denzel Curry — the best pure-hip-hop booking of the festival — plus Camo & Krooked's d'n'b. Even Daydreaming steps up with Shimza's afro tech. Garrix-vs-Solomun is the closest thing 2026 has to a guaranteed headline clash, and if Denzel Curry lands in the same window it becomes a genuine three-way. This is the night the timetable will hurt most.

Sunday 9 August — the marathon closer

Main runs a conveyor of hits — Alan Walker, Flo Rida, Meduza, Steve Aoki, Afrojack b2b R3HAB, plus Tash Sultana as the left-field live act and Padre Guilherme (yes, the techno priest) as the curiosity booking. Galaxy answers with its hardest night: Sara Landry's hard techno vs Jamie Jones's tech house is an underground clash worth the whole ticket, with MRAK's melodic techno in support. Andy C gives Alchemy the weekend's biggest d'n'b set, Major League DJz bring amapiano to Daydreaming, and Soul Circle closes the festival somewhere between a folk orchestra and a cacao ceremony. Sunday is where pacing matters — the people still standing at 04:00 get the best of it.

Get ready now, decide fast later

Here's the play while times are missing: figure out which acts actually match your taste now, so when the timetable drops in the app you're sorting a shortlist, not 85 names.

That's what FestWave does: export your Spotify liked songs (two minutes, no login), upload the file, and the whole Untold lineup is colour-coded — green for artists already in your library, amber for acts that match your sound. When set times land, the same grid becomes an hour-by-hour schedule with your matches highlighted, and the Garrix-or-Solomun question answers itself in one glance. Your library is read entirely in your browser and never uploaded.

Want to try it first? Every past festival on FestWave is free — build a grid for one and see how it works before the Cluj timetable drops.