The first week of August saw a host of festivals and concerts taking place across the country, including Untold, which drew thousands to the western Romania city of Cluj-Napoca. Iași, in northeastern Romania, hosted a WTA 125 tournament, while another such event is planned for Bucharest this fall. Meanwhile, the Bucharest City Hall announced several repair works in the city's parks. More of the August 1 – August 7 week's highlights in pictures below.

The festival season is in full swing and Untold, the country's largest electronic music one, drew crowds to Cluj-Napoca for four days and four nights of entertainment and a lineup that included more than 200 performers. As always, the festival pushed the price of accommodation in Cluj to levels often described as prohibitive. The event also saw an increased presence of law enforcement teams, with more than 1,000 employees of the Interior Affairs Ministry deployed on site and a visit of Interior Affairs Minister Lucian Bode on August 6. The mayor of Cluj-Napoca, Emil Boc, estimated that more than EUR 50 mln "have entered the city directly and indirectly" due to the festival.

Meanwhile, metal festival Rockstadt Extreme Fest brought 50 bands to the city of Râșnov, in Brașov county. The event, the largest dedicated to metal in the country, had two stages and a camping ground for its eighth edition, another "beautiful experience of a one-week summer holiday for thousands of metalheads."

Timișoara, in western Romania, celebrated its City Days, marking 103 years of Romanian administration in the local Banat region. The Summer Theater in the city's Rozelor Park hosted several concerts, including by Romanian rock band Phoenix, who celebrated six decades since their establishment, and this year's Eurovision winners, the Ukrainian group Kalush Orchestra, who delivered their first concert in the country.

The City Hall of Bucharest announced several works to the city's parks. In Cișmigiu, the authorities kicked off the works to refurbish the park's Grand Bridge, used by pedestrians to cross over lake Cișmigiu. The 100-year-old bridge, built between 1913 and 1914, has so far seen only minor patch-ups, the City Hall explained. The works are estimated to last eight months.

At the same time, the municipality announced a pedestrian bridge would be erected in King Michael I (former Herăstrău) Park, allowing visitors to cross over lake Herăstrău. A provisional overpass has been erected close to the railway bridge, but this blocks the movement of boats beneath the railway bridge, the City Hall explained. The process to attribute the design and execution of the works is to open in the coming period.

The Bucharest City Hall also attributed the contract for the repair works on the retractable rooftop of the National Arena. The stadium's electronic display system will also be repaired.

The first edition of the WTA 125 tournament BCR Iași Open saw four Romanian players and several international players ranked among the world's first 100 compete for awards amounting to USD 115,000 and 160 WTA points. Romanian Ana Bogdan (WTA 75) won the tournament after she defeated Hungarian Panna Udvardy (WTA 93).

Also in tennis news, Ţiriac Foundation said it was organizing the Ţiriac Foundation Trophy this September in Bucharest. It is the first WTA tournament held in Bucharest in the last three years. The WTA 125 tournament on clay court will see 32 players and eight teams compete for total prizes amounting to USD 115,000 and 160 points in the WTA ranking for the champion.

(Opening photo:  Alexandru Busca/ Inquam Photos)

simona@romania-insider.com