View this post on Instagram
“We always said that EXIT would return when freedom returned to our country – and thanks to the courage, determination and incredible perseverance of Serbian students, that moment has finally arrived! Our original plan was to return in 2028, as a comeback on the scale we envision requires at least 18 months of preparation.
But you have overwhelmed us with so much love! Thousands of incredible emails, messages, comments and an overwhelming amount of media attention have made one thing clear – you simply cannot wait that long, and neither can we!
So, although EXIT’s grand return was originally planned for 2028, next July we will gather at the Fortress once again to celebrate FREEDOM, UNITY AND LOVE together, with a special EXIT experience that we will reveal soon!” the post reads.
Last year, EXIT announced that it would no longer be held in Serbia, citing political, security and financial pressures following its support for the student movement.
“When we hung the banners ‘STUDENTS ARE WINNING’ and ‘SEE YOU NEXT YEAR AT THE FORTRESS’ alongside the students at the Fortress last July, at the time when EXIT would traditionally have taken place, we truly believed that freedom was coming. But none of us knew whether it would arrive soon enough for those words to become reality the very next year,” said Dušan Kovačević, EXIT Festival’s founder and CEO, adding:
“Elections had not even been called at the time, the last remaining independent media outlets were facing the threat of being shut down, and my own brother was still in detention, which was another form of pressure on me and EXIT to stop supporting the students. But instead of breaking us, all that pressure only made us more determined to do everything in our power in this decisive struggle for our country. Today, EXIT is coming home, and the students have shown that there is no force stronger than a people determined to live in freedom!”
EXIT was the only major festival to support the student protests last year. Its most recent edition featured numerous Serbian artists who had found themselves on blacklists after expressing support for the students. Italian singer Gala, whose hit “Freed from Desire” became an anthem of the protests, also opened the festival’s Main Stage alongside the students.
After a year in which EXIT, a three-time winner of the Best Major Festival award, took its energy around the world – including hosting the first-ever full-scale festival at the backdrop of the Great Pyramids of Giza – it is time to return to where it all began.
NEXT YEAR AT THE FORTRESS!
