Guy Delauney
BBC Vulcan correspondent
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Festival organizers say support for student protests led to funding
One of Europe’s biggest music festivals is the withdrawal from Serbia with organizers who denounce “undemocratic pressure.”
The Exit Festival will hold its 25th anniversary edition at the country between July 10th and 13th, where it said it will be “last time.”
Organizers say Serbian authorities have cut off government funding for the event, and some sponsors have been “forced to withdraw under provincial pressure.”
They say this is linked to the festival’s support for the ongoing student-led anti-corruption protests in Serbia.
State officials at the Cultural Office have rejected the allegations and blamed financial pressure on “unable to provide assistance.”
The festival, held at Petrovaradin Fortress in Novi Sad, Serbia’s second city, attracted 200,000 visitors last year.
Exit has its roots in the democratic protest movement that ultimately led to the defeat of Slobodan Milosevic in the 2000 Yugoslavian presidential election.
The activist tradition is given each year themes ranging from “stop human trafficking” to “loud and weird.”
Following the disaster at Novi Sad railway station last November, 16 people were killed when a concrete canopy collapsed – students launched a protest and the festival provided support to them.
This ranged from joining students in protest marches to providing “food, sleeping bags and other essentials” and publishing messages of support on social media and on Exit websites.
Founder Dusan Kovacevic said that this is now costing a great economic expense for the festival, but “there is no price for freedom.”
In a statement regarding the decision to withdraw from Serbia in 25 years, he calls on people to remember the exit “not for its end, but for its unity, for its sake, for its freedom.”
It is unclear whether the festival will attempt to move to another country.
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Viewers have exceeded 200,000 at festivals in recent years
Long-standing headline acts include white stripes, the Arctic and cures.
Next month, the genius will return to his sixth appearance at the festival, along with a sex pistol featuring Frank Carter and French DJ and producer DJ Snake.
EXIT won two European Festival of the Year awards, making it one of the largest multi-day musical events on the continent.
Daryl Fidelak, who runs a Belgrade-based record label, says the festival has had a major impact on the creative scene in Serbia.
“It opened the eyes of an international audience and brought many foreigners who might have had a negative or even no impression of Serbia,” he says.
“The exits help Serbia reach a good place with live music and culture, creating many other festivals, bookers and events.”
