Two-time Best Major Festival winner (2013 and 2017), EXIT has been shortlisted in four European Festival Awards categories, including a significant nomination for Sea Star Festival, organised by the EXIT team in Umag, Croatia.
In a year in which EXIT was practically driven out of Serbia due to the Government pressure, the festival has nonetheless secured a place among the Top 10 Best Major European Festivals, while Exit’s Adriatic jewel, Sea Star Festival in Umag, entered the list of the Top 10 Best Medium-Sized Festivals (up to 40,000 daily visitors). EXIT is also nominated in the category for Best Promoter, alongside Tomorrowland, Sziget, and Germany’s leading event organisation FKP Scorpio, while EXIT founders Dušan Kovačević, Ivan Milivojev, and Bojan Bošković are finalists for the Award for Excellence and Passion.
This year’s jubilee edition of EXIT, held in July at Petrovaradin Fortress and featuring performances by leading global artists, delivered a special energy that made 2025 one of the festival’s most dynamic years so far. A victory would place a symbolic crown on the 25th anniversary edition and everything the festival has achieved over the past quarter-century. The nominations arrive in a year in which EXIT, together with numerous artists, bands, and public figures in Serbia, faced pressure from authorities after openly supporting students in their fight for a free and democratic society. The forced departure of EXIT from Serbia was covered by BBC, The Guardian, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Le Monde, and other major European and global media outlets, drawing significant international attention to the student protests and the erosion of freedoms in the country
Over the years, EXIT has also been recognised at the European Festival Awards for its innovative and socially impactful projects. Notably, last year EXIT won the Take a Stand Award for the “Life is Live” campaign created in partnership with UNICEF, acknowledging the success of a socially engaged initiative addressing digital addiction among young people through ongoing educational activities. Sea Star Festival was awarded Best Medium-Sized Festival in 2015, while EXIT’s Belgrade rave marathon No Sleep Festival earned the title of Best New Festival in Europe in 2019.
In addition to its EFA achievements, EXIT has been honoured at numerous European and regional award ceremonies. Highlights include the UK Festival Awards, where EXIT was named Best European Festival in 2007; the Best European Festival 2016 title by European Best Destinations; and the Champion of Regional Cooperation recognition awarded by the Regional Cooperation Council in 2017.
The winners of the European Festival Awards will be announced at the opening of Eurosonic Noorderslag, taking place from 14–17 January in Groningen. The full list of categories and finalists is available on the official European Festival Awards website. ESNS has long been one of Europe’s most important gathering points for the music industry and a key platform for presenting new talent, playing a central role in shaping future trends on the European music scene.
