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 17th 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.
\Performers 07: DANCE ARENA
DANNY TENAGLIA
ROGER SANCHEZ
JOHN DIGWEED
RICHIE HAWTIN
ERIC PRYDZ
TRENTEMOLLER LIVE
BLACK STROBE LIVE
COLLABS 3000 LIVE
NIC FANCIULLI
PAUL WOOLFORD
MAGDA
SEBASTIEN LEGER
JUSTIN MARTIN
Performers 07: MAIN STAGE
BEASTIE BOYS
BASEMENT JAXX
CANSEI DE SER SEXY
LAURYN HILL
LTJ BUKEM & MC CONRAD
ROBERT PLANT
WU-TANG CLAN
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