The EXIT festival will return home — to the Fortress — as early as next July. Organisers confirmed the return on the festival's Instagram profile, where they announced their homecoming.
The original plan was for the festival to reconvene at the Fortress in 2028. However, as the organisers explained, the major return they envision requires at least 18 months of preparation, which accelerated the new date.
Recall that EXIT was forced to suspend the festival in Serbia last year. As explained at the time, the reasons were political, security and financial pressures, and the festival was cancelled in support of students. In July, on the days when EXIT was traditionally held, banners with the messages 'STUDENTS WIN' and 'SEE YOU AT THE FORTRESS NEXT YEAR' were displayed at the Fortress together with the students.
EXIT was the only major festival to support the student protests last year. At what is currently the final edition, numerous domestic performers who had been placed on blacklists after supporting the students performed. Italian singer Gala, the author of the protest anthem 'Freed from Desire', opened the festival on the main stage together with the students.
Founder and director of the EXIT festival Dušan Kovačević warned at the time of the wider context — elections had not yet been called, the shutdown of the last independent media outlets was being announced, and his younger brother was still in detention.
EXIT is a three-time winner of the award for best European festival. The festival has brought more than €300 million to the Serbian economy, and it held the first true festival by the pyramids in Giza.
