Serbia’s Exit Festival Celebrates 8 Years of True Freedom

EXIT FESTIVAL 08

PETROVARADIN FORTRESS

NOVI SAD, SERBIA

10^th – 13^th JULY 2008

www.exitfest.org

EXIT is the festival on everyone’s lips, with over 10,000 Brits making it their festival of choice in 2007 and winning ‘Best European Festival’ at the UK Festival Awards. Set within the walls of the 17^th Century Petrovaradin Fortress, EXIT provides an awe inspiring backdrop for the biggest music and cultural event in South East Europe. Dates for 2008 are 10^th – 13^th July and tickets are now on general sale priced at £72 + a small booking fee.

EXIT is your ticket to a once in a lifetime experience, celebrating music, life, freedom and friendship with like minded party people from around the world. Over 600 performances will take place on 25 stages connected by cobbled streets, ramparts and tunnels – a walk through the mystical fortress is like a trip through a magical wonderland. The Dance Arena is regarded by many as the best in Europe and the experience of dancing with 20,000 people as the sun rises over the fortress walls is truly mind blowing.

Renowned for its diverse and adventurous line ups, EXIT encompasses all genres of music from rock to rap, classical to chill, dance to drum & bass and electronic to experimental. Artists who have already performed at EXIT include; Basement Jaxx, Billy Idol, Franz Ferdinand, Fatboy Slim, Morrissey, Massive Attack, The Prodigy, Robert Plant, Snoop Dogg, Scissor Sisters, Underworld, White Stripes. Expect more of the same this year with the program formally announced in April.

Launched 9 years ago as a student initiated protest against the communist Milosevic regime, EXIT has proved that music is a universal language that can connect and bring people together to make the world a better place. EXIT is truly an amazing experience that has captured the imagination of festival goers worldwide and although it gets bigger each year, the sentiment remains the same.

EXIT HISTORY

The EXIT Festival came into being in the year 2000 as an act of rebellion against the regime of Slobodan Milosevic, that had for years been keeping Serbia out of touch with the outside world. That summer thousands of young people from Novi Sad had 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 Milosevic.

Having been inspired by the enthusiasm brought on by the changes in the country, the team behind EXIT decided to continue the festival and create an event that had true regional importance. They chose the historic Petrovaradin Fortress as their venue, built high on the banks of the River Danube offering stunning views over the city of Novi Sad. The site was originally occupied by the Romans, and re-built by the Austro Hungarian Empire to defend against the Turks in the 17^th 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 neighbouring ex Yugoslav countries. The festival lasted for nine days, had five stages, a theatre and a cinema. As well as being able to see artists from Serbia, the EXIT audience also enjoyed performances by internationally recognised artists such as Finley Quaye, Kosheen, Roni Size, Banco de Gaia, Tony Allen, Max Romeo, Luke Slater, Salome de Bahia, and Tim Simeon. Performers from Croatia also played in front a large audience in Serbia, which was the first time since the war.

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 had grown and the EXIT team decided to shorten the festival to four days so that the budget could be concentrated and more big names could be brought in. EXIT 03 had seven stages with performances from over 400 artists, including Stereo MC’s, Moloko, Shane McGowan, Chumbawamba, Tricky, Jeff Mills, Darren Emerson, Lottie and DJ Marky. Apart from the festival goers attending from the Western Balkan states the festival also hosted guests from Hungary, Greece, UK, Sweden and Australia. The festival proclaimed the State of EXIT – a state for those who share values, environmental awareness, tolerance and are open to the different cultures and also want to make the world around them a better place. The festival fliers were printed as passports.

The festival kept on growing and the EXIT 04 line-up included Massive Attack, Iggy and the Stooges, Cypress Hill, Brand New Heavies, Neneh Cherry, Goldfrapp, Peaches, Senor Coconut, Timo Maas, Roger Sanchez, Satoshie Tomiie, Steve Lawler, Technasia amongst others.

As well as being one of the biggest festivals in South East Europe, Exit has an enormous impact on society and the organizations 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. 20,000 information booklets were handed out during the festival and workshops were organized with journalists, police, activists and cultural figures. 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.

TICKETS ONSALE NOW!

EXIT has teamed up with eTickets.to to deliver the best value festival ticket this side of the moon, with fast entry through their own entrance at the festival.

4 day festival passes are priced at £72 + a small booking fee and are available direct from the EXIT website and lastminute.com.

Camping is available from 8th – 14th July and camping passes are prices at £14 + a small booking fee.

To secure yours log onto one of the following sites;

http://etickets.to/exit/

www.exitfest.org

www.lastminute.com

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