EXIT Festival confirms 2025 edition will be its last in Serbia

EXIT Festival has announced that next month's edition will be its last in Serbia.

The team behind the long-running festival announced the news via a statement on Instagram yesterday (June 12), citing "financial and political pressure" as a result of the festival publicly backing Serbia's student protestors.

In its statement, EXIT Festival claims that it has now been "completely cut off from public funding at all levels of government" and that "sponsors have been forced to withdraw" from the event due to pressure from President Aleksandar Vučić's government. 

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“This is the hardest decision in our 25-year history but we believe that freedom has no price," says EXIT Founder and Director Dušan 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.“

The country has seen mass demonstrations since November after concrete awning above the supposedly newly-refurbished Novi Sad Railway Station - just a stones throw away from the Petrovaradin Fortress, where EXIT will hold its 2025 edition in just a few weeks - collapsed onto passersby, killing 15 people and injuring two more. 

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What began as a campaign of university walk-outs and strikes has grown into the country's biggest protests since the mass demonstrations against President Slobodan Milošević in 1997 — with thousands calling for an end to the autocratic rule of President Aleksandar Vučić and accountability for lives lost in the collapse.

One of Europe's biggest electronic festivals, EXIT was established in 2000 by student activists in response to unrest since 1997; this year's edition, set to take place in Novi Sad across July 10 - 13, marks 25 years of the festival.

Read EXIT Festival's full statement, below.

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“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.

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.”