Travel feature on Exit festival, published in Metro on Friday June 1st. I can't recommend this festival highly enough. The vibe is second to none. No jaded cynicism, been there done that, I saw this band two years ago, blah, blah, blah.
EXIT
What makes a good festival? Most of us would probably say location, music, people, atmosphere, cost and weather, but not necessarily in that order. And in these terms you would be very hard pushed to beat Serbia’s four-day Exit festival.
Firstly the setting is beyond spectacular: Exit takes place in a sprawling 17th/18th century citadel – or a tiered, walled city – on the banks of the green-blue River Danube. The Petrovaradin Fortress, which took nearly 90 years to build and cost the lives of around 1,000 slaves, thieves and murderers, houses 25 stages and welcomes 150,000-festival-goers over four nights.
You could quite easily disregard the music and spend your time wandering and exploring the Fortress and its nooks, crannies and alcoves. Or mesmerized and humbled by the purple-crimson sunsets over the Danube, looking down on thousands of revellers streaming towards the Fortress over the Varadinski Bridge in ant-like procession.
The breathtaking sunsets are matched by sunrise over Exit’s second largest arena, the open-air dance stage in the Fortress’ moat. As you tumble down the levels of the citadel the dull thud of repetitive beats becomes more crisp and as another scorching day begins to break you’re presented with a biblical scene: a vertiginous drop and a moat crammed with 20,000 people worshipping at the altar of the DJ booth.
Exit’s programming is weird (last year Morrissey followed Dizzee Rascal on the main stage), and wonderful (Scissor Sisters following the Pet Shop Boys). Its line-ups combine an emphasis on classic rock acts (last year - Billy Idol, The Cardigans, The Cult) to draw older Serbians, with hip bands (Franz Ferdinand, Scissor Sisters) and world renowned DJs (Derrick May, Jeff Mills, Dave Clarke) to entice young people.
Beyond recognisable big names, it’s well worth checking out stages dedicated to traditional Balkan folk music, Serbian hip-hop and death metal, reggae and Latin music (blasting out reggaeton and providing dancing lessons). Considering this year’s line up so far includes Beastie Boys, Basement Jaxx, CSS, Lauryn Hill, Wu Tang Clan and Robert Plant, and DJs including Danny Tenaglia, Richie Hawtin, Roger Sanchez and Eric Prydz, there’s enough to sate the most diverse of palates.
Exit’s atmosphere is as unique as its line ups, and that’s down to the festival’s origins as a student protest gathering against Slobodan Milosevic’s dictatorship in 2000. Milosevic’s reign ended a few weeks after the inaugural Exit, and consequently the festival’s come to symbolise a new beginning for Serbia, celebrating what we often take for granted: freedom and self expression.
Novi Sad locals – starved of tourism for two decades until the early noughties - couldn’t be more hospitable, treating you as if you’re being welcomed into their homes. And although for us Exit’s cheap (£54 for the entire four days), for Serbians the €78 ticket price is the equivalent of 1/4 and 1/3 of a monthly salary. So Serbians share a pass between friends, each choosing a night to attend and ensuring they get the most of their hard earned cash.
All these factors contribute to an overwhelmingly positive vibe and intoxicating, excitable atmosphere that has to be experienced to be believed.
This year’s Exit takes place from Jul 12-15 www.exitfest.org
