July 9th - 11th, 2010
Novi Sad, Serbia
Website: www.exitfest.org
MySpace: www.myspace.com/exitfestival
The EXIT festival came into being in the year 2000 as an act of rebellion against the regime of Slobodan Miloševic, that had for years been keeping Serbia out of touch with the outside world. That summer thousands of young people from Novi Sad gathered in the campus park by the River Danube where concerts, parties and art performances took place. There were also discussions and debates where the young were able to express their opposition to the imposed nationalism, xenophobia, censorship and repression. The event lasted for 100 days and its grand finale was the 'Get out to Vote' party, which was held one day before the elections that saw the downfall of Miloševic.
Having been inspired by the enthusiasm brought on by the changes in the country, the team behind EXIT decided to continue with the festival and create an event of true regional importance. They chose the historic Petrovaradin Fortress as their venue, built high on the banks of the River Danube offering a stunning view of Novi Sad. The site was originally occupied by the Romans, and re-built by the Austro Hungarian Empire as defense against the Turks in the 17th Century.
Although very few people believed the idea would be a success, the first event held in July 2001 was visited by 200,000 people from all over Serbia and neighboring ex-Yugoslav countries.
The festival lasted for nine days, had five stages, a theatre and a cinema. Apart from listening to the bands from Serbia, the EXIT audience also enjoyed performances by internationally recognized artists such as Finley Quaye, Kosheen, Roni Size, Banco de Gaia, Tony Allen, Max Romeo, Luke Slater, Salome de Bahia, and Tim Simeon. For the first time after the war, performers from Croatia played in front of a large audience in Serbia.
Those who came to EXIT spread the word that it was the best party in the Balkans and the following year the number of visitors doubled to 400,000. The festival camp sprang up on the other side of the river with more than a thousand tents and a grand Dance Arena for 25,000 people was constructed at the fortress where David Morales, Darren Emerson, Lottie, Erick Morillo, Marshal Jefferson, LTJ Bukem, Brenda Russell, Derrick Carter and Kevin Yost performed. Artists who took to the main stage were the Asian Dub Foundation, Rundamenthal, Transglobal Underground, Smoke City, Roni Size, KAOS Night and Horace Andy. An enormous banner was placed on the walls of the fortress facing the city of Novi Sad saying "SERBIA, ARE YOU READY FOR THE FUTURE?" The success of EXIT caused a chain reaction of festivals to spring up all over the country, but most of them did not manage to survive.
After the first two festivals the appetite of the audience grew and the EXIT team decided to shorten the festival to four days so that the budget could be concentrated and more resounding names could be brought in.
As well as being one of the biggest festivals in South East Europe, Exit has an enormous impact on the society and the organization's political agenda is still paramount. In 2004 MTV Europe's Foundation partnered with EXIT staff, anti-trafficking organizations and local media to raise awareness of trafficking and sexual exploitation in the region. MTV also produced a one-hour documentary about EXIT that included the trafficking issues that was aired in 20 countries across Central and Eastern Europe.
EXIT is rapidly gaining international recognition and proves that music is a universal language that can connect and bring people together and make the world a better place. - Exitfest.org
