We are starting the week bringing some sad news for festival goers worldwide, as EXIT Festival has announced last week that this anniversary edition will also mark the end of their festival at its current format in Serbia. Born in 2000 as a grassroots student movement for peace and reunited youth across the Balkans, EXIT has become a global emblem of unity, tolerance, creativity and youth empowerment, and a tourism catalyst for Serbia.
Since EXIT publicly aligned with Serbia’s student-led anti-corruption protests, following the tragic Novi Sad station collapse in November 2024 that claimed 15 lives, state-backed pressure has ramped up. EXIT has since been stripped of all government funding, including cultural grants, due to its stance. Sponsors have also been forced to withdraw, pressured by pro-government actors.
With an uncertain future ahead, founder and Director Dušan Kovačević has shared the news via their Instagram page:
Read the full statement below:
“Through music, creativity, and activism, EXIT has connected generations and nations, rebuilt broken ties, and built bridges where others route to divide. We have brought numerous European festival awards to our country and region, along with hundreds of millions of euros in tourism revenue and international recognition that global experts consider invaluable.
However, ever since we publicly stood with the students of Serbia in their fight for a freer and more just society, we have been subjected to immense financial and political pressures aimed at stripping us of our fundamental rights to freedom of thought and expression. Despite being completely cut off from public funding at all levels of government, and with some sponsors forced to withdraw under state pressure, we refuse to be silenced.
As a result, this year’s anniversary edition will be the last to take place in a Serbia where freedom of speech is systematically suppressed.
“This is the hardest decision in our 25-year history, but we believe that freedom has no price. 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” said Dušan Kovačević, founder and director of the EXIT Festival group.
While we know we are welcomed with open arms around the world, we owe our audience one last dance at the Petrovaradin Fortress. That is why our entire team is more determined than ever to make this year’s edition the most emotional and unforgettable yet.
EXIT 2025 will take place from July 10–13 in Novi Sad, when together with students we will mark 25 years of fighting for the better world. EXIT is not just a festival – EXIT is all of us who believe we can make a change. And just as we ignited the spark of change together a quarter of a century ago, today we once again defend the right to live freely.
If this truly is the last EXIT at the Fortress, let it be unforgettable. Let it be our strongest yet — a festival remembered not for its end, but for its unity. For love. For freedom.”
