One of Europe’s largest music festivals will no longer be held in Serbia and could go “into exile” in Germany or a neighbouring Balkan state after Belgrade withheld funding over its support of the country’s anti-corruption student protesters.
Exit festival, which is held every July in a medieval bastion fortress in Serbia’s second city, Novi Sad, was founded in 2000 by student activists from the protest movement that helped topple Slobodan Milošević. Affordable ticket prices and starry lineups mean it has acquired a reputation as Europe’s premier music event with a social conscience, with 210,000 people from more than 80 countries attending in 2024.
On Friday, however, Exit’s organisers announced that its 25th anniversary edition from 10 to 13 July this year “will be the last to take place” in Serbia, citing “undemocratic pressures” from the government of the president, Aleksandar Vučić.
Novi Sad has emerged as the hub of the protests that have swept the Balkan state since a concrete canopy collapsed on to a busy pavement at the city’s central station last year, killing 14 people. On its social media channels, Exit has endorsed the demands of student protesters, calling for the resignation of the responsible minister and a full investigation into the disaster.
The festival has donated food and sleeping bags to protesters blocking access to universities and municipal buildings, and plans to give student activists their own stage at this year’s festival.
The festival’s outspoken stance appears to have drawn the ire of the government, with authorities withholding about €1.5m in national and regional tourism grants and some sponsors dropping out.
“The only way we could continue the festival beyond this year is if we decided not to be free from political influence,” said Exit’s founder, Dušan Kovačević, explaining that his festival needs about 15% direct government funding to remain affordable but usually brings approximately €25m into the Serbian economy every year. “And we cannot be threatened.”
Authorities say their “strategic repositioning” is not politically motivated, blaming financial pressures for being unable to provide support.
“They are trying to govern by fear,” Kovačević said. “That’s not the way to go, especially in a country with a political history like Serbia’s.”
Kovačević said he was in talks to hold “Exit in exile” iterations of the festival from 2026 after receiving invitations to hold musical events in Germany and several countries in the Balkans, as well as in Egypt. “We may do it for one year, or maybe two or maybe five,” he added.
This year’s festival has a lineup that includes the Prodigy, Sex Pistols, the French producer DJ Snake and the Russian singer Nina Kraviz.
Asked whether Exit would leave its home country permanently, the festival’s organisers said: “It remains too early to say if or under what conditions the festival will return to Serbia.”
The government has been approached for comment.
