Christopher BarrettSerbia’s 70,000-capacity EXIT Festival is to shut it gates for the last time this summer, with the event having been stripped of all government funding.
Founded by Dušan Kovačević in 2000, the award-winning event will take place for the last time at the Petrovaradin Fortress in Novi Sad from 10–13 July.
Mass demonstrations in the country gathered momentum after 15 people were killed when a roof collapsed at a newly renovated train station in Novi Sad, Serbia’s second-biggest city and the home of EXIT. Many Serbians blamed the collapse on corruption linked to President Aleksandar Vucic and the neo-liberal SNS party. As a festival born from a student movement across Serbia, EXIT publicly aligned itself with the protestors.
Since then, state-backed pressure has ramped up, and EXIT has since been stripped of all government funding, including cultural grants, due to its stance. Sponsors have also been forced to withdraw, allegedly pressured by pro-government actors.
The event was launched as a grassroots student movement for peace and reunited youth across the Balkans. EXIT’s organisers said the aim has always been to establish the event as a global emblem of unity, tolerance, creativity and youth empowerment.
The festival has had an enormously positive economic impact on Serbia, having been responsible for hundreds of millions of Euros in tourism revenue.
“This is the hardest decision in our 25-year history but we believe that freedom has no price,” said Kovačević. “With this act we are defending not only EXIT but the fundamental right to free expression for all cultural actors around the world. We invite them to stand with us in this fight.”