Want Free Music? Give Blood—in Transylvania

Romania tries unconventional way to draw blood from stony population
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jul 20, 2015 1:56 PM CDT
Want Free Music? Give Blood—in Transylvania
Bela Lugosi portrays Count Dracula in the 1931 film, Dracula."   (AP Photo/Universal Pictures, file)

Romania is tapping into the Dracula legend, offering concert-goers free tickets in exchange for their blood. The campaign is part of a push to increase blood donations in a country where only 1.7% of the people donate blood. Adrian Chereji, marketing director for the UNTOLD Festival, said today the "Pay with Blood" campaign, jointly organized with the National Blood Transfusion Institute, aims to raise public awareness.

Mobile blood collection units will be set up in 42 Romanian cities for 10 days this month. Donators in Bucharest and Cluj will be eligible for free tickets for an electro-dance music festival in the Transylvanian city of Cluj. Cut-price tickets will be offered to donors elsewhere. Transylvania is the home of the fictional blood-sucking Dracula featured in Bram Stoker's 1897 novel. (More Transylvania stories.)

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