Serbia’s EXIT Festival has announced a crowdfunding campaign to protect its independence, following the withdrawal of about €1.5 million in public funding and government-controlled sponsorships.
Under government pressure following the festival’s support for recent anti-corruption student protests in Serbia, EXIT Festival has launched Save.Exitfest.Org to ‘ensure the immediate stability of the festival organisation and protect over 100 permanent jobs’, the festival said in a statement.
The most recent edition of EXIT Festival welcomed artists such as The Prodigy, Tiësto, Amelie Lens, Nina Kraviz and Boris Brechja to Petrovaradin Fortress, Novi Sad, Serbia, between 10 and 13 July.
“The recent EXIT Festival is of immeasurable importance – a historical moment when one music festival boldly stood up against fierce governmental pressure aimed at silencing our freedom of speech and suppressing our support for Serbia‘s brave students,” commented Dušan Kovačević, founder of the EXIT Festival group.
“We stood stronger than any attempt at state repression and demonstrated that unity, solidarity and love still triumphs over fear, and that art cannot be silenced.”
Kovačević added that through the crowdfunding campaign, EXIT Festival is “standing up for the independence of an entire organisation and the people behind it. We strongly believe this is a moment for the music industry to unite, protect one of its own, and demonstrate that collectively it is stronger than any government in the world. By defending independence and freedom for EXIT, we defend the freedom of all artists, music professionals, and organisations in the music industry who might face similar pressures anywhere in the world. Because the fight for freedom for one is the fight for freedom for all.”
EXIT Festival was established in 2000 following student activism in Serbia. The crowdfunding campaign will seek to secure the festival’s future by enabling donations and the purchase of future tickets and digital assets.
EXIT has twice won the Best Major Festival award at the European Festival Awards and is the current holder of the Take a Stand Award, which acknowledges festivals that advocate for human rights, social justice, and positive societal change. Read more here.
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