EXIT Festival has announced that its upcoming 2025 edition will be the last in its lifelong home of Serbia, after facing political backlash for supporting student-led protests happening across the country.
Following the conclusion of this year’s festival, which returns to the Petrovaradin Fortress in Novi Sad for its 25th anniversary this July 10-13, organizers confirmed on social media that they will look for a new home for EXIT outside of Serbia, whose government they claim has attempted to abolish “our right to freedom of thought and speech,” according to a festival statement translated from Serbian.
Last year, EXIT Festival backed students across Serbia who have been protesting political corruption in the country and demanding an investigation into a roof collapse at Novi Sad train station that killed 16 people in November 2024.
According to their statement, the move was a no-brainer for the EXIT team, which launched the festival in 2000 as part of a peaceful student movement to remove the oppressive former Serbian president, Slobodan Milošević.
Now, organizers say they’ve been hit with retaliatory measures from the current Serbian government, a recent tactic from president Aleksander Vučic, who has also reportedly targeted actors, TV hosts, and other influential groups.
These government measures include cutting off all of EXIT’s public funding, “without which in the limited Serbian economic framework it is not possible to realize a festival of the size and reputation of EXIT in the long term,” festival organizers wrote.
“If this is the last EXIT at the Fortress, let it be unforgettable,” they continued. “Make it our strongest yet. A festival that is remembered not for its end, but for its unity. By love. For freedom!”
EXIT Festival returns to Novi Sad next month with performances from Eric Prydz, Boris Brejcha, DJ Snake, Sara Landry, Solomun, Nina Kraviz, The Prodigy, Tiësto, and many more. For more information, visit exitfest.org.
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Featured image courtesy: EXIT Festival.
