The Cure and Twenty One Pilots are set to headline Electric Castle 2026. Find all the details below.
- READ MORE: The Cure – ‘Songs Of A Lost World’ review: a masterful reflection on loss
The festival will return to Cluj-Napoca on the grounds of Banffy Castle in Transylvania from July 16 through 19.
Now, the first two acts have been unveiled, with headline sets from Twenty One Pilots and The Cure scheduled. More performers will be revealed soon.
Tickets are available now, and you can find yours here.
This year’s edition of the festival saw headline performances from Yungblud, Queens Of The Stone Age, Bicep, Justice and Justin Timberlake, and sets from the likes of Refused, Leprous, The Amazons, The Sisters of Mercy, Nilüfer Yanya, Joey Valence & Brae, Sofi Tukker, Shaggy and more.
The Cure’s headline slot comes after they announced a string of UK and European dates for 2026, as well as a slate of festivals, including headline slots at Rock En Seine, Primavera Sound, and Isle Of Wight Festival.
They’ve also been announced to play Øya, Nova Rock, Rock Werchter, and Open’er festivals, and there are rumours of a headline show at the Royal Albert Hall.
Next summer will see them play their first dates together since their show at London’s Troxy last November, an intimate gig with just 3,000 fans in attendance – including Green Day‘s Billie Joe Armstrong, Radiohead‘s Ed O’Brien, Boy George, Mogwai‘s Stuart Braithwaite, and Pedro Pascal.
Smith previously revealed there was another new album that’s “virtually finished” – with a third new record also on the way.
Excitingly, Smith also shared he wanted to finish one of those albums before they start touring, suggesting that it may be released before they officially hit the road in August.
So far, their most recent record is ‘Songs Of A Lost World‘, which we gave a whopping five stars: “The 10-minute opus of ‘Endsong’ – always intended as the album closer – circles back to that full stop from the start: how we’re all ultimately dust and “left alone with nothing at the end of every song”. Merciless? Yes, but there’s always enough heart in the darkness and opulence in the sound to hold you and place these songs alongside The Cure’s finest.
“The frontman suggested that another two records may be arriving at some point, but ‘Songs Of A Lost World’ feels sufficient enough for the wait we’ve endured, just for being arguably the most personal album of Smith’s career. Mortality may loom, but there’s colour in the black and flowers on the grave.”
