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What the Stars had To Say
Camping
Trains
Serbia
The Fest
Accommodation
'Exit was more than we could have expected it to be. The audience was exceptional and the setting was breathtaking. I hope they have us back sometime.'
Alex Kapranos / Franz Ferdinand
"Serbia, we had no idea what to expect and it was an amazing show, the crowd was fantastic and we can't wait to come back."
Ana Matronic / Scissor Sisters
"Serbia was fantastic, we all really enjoyed it ... the audience was amazing and it was the best show on the tour so far."
Billy Idol
"We didn't have a clue about what to expect - and it was incredible!"
Nick Halam, Stereo MC's
"An absolutely amazing festival both in terms of the crowds that came and the people behind the scenes. The setting was amazing with the sun coming up and the sound system was intense (as opposed to in tents which would normally be the case at a festival but I digress), I was so happy that I could finally be a part of this and would like to thank everyone that came along."
Dave Clarke
"wow - exit - what a festival! great energy, great understanding of the music and a great place. very impressed." Giles Peterson / Radio 1
Comments from Exit Brits
I camped last year. It's an experience, it's cheap and it's close to the action but it's noisy and hot, and very busy/cramped. Beer in the fest is about 90 pence per half litre/can etc, but you can really only get hold of Tuborg because they sponsor it. Outside the festival, around town, beer is much cheaper and better -
'Jelen pivo' and 'Lav' go down very well. Would cost about 50/60 pence in cafes and it's very cheap to buy it from shops/supermarkets
I'm going again this year and am looking to rent an apartment in the town. Last year's camping experience, though being a good laugh, was a real pain. The music finishes at 8am so by the time you are looking to get to sleep it's the hottest part of the day, so even if you are camping in the shade it's uncomfortably hot. We rarely slept the whole week due to the heat and the noise. Another campsite could work. But obviously the heat will still be a factor. Most people who have camped in the first year will get an apartment the following year, so what does that tell you? I don't think you can put a price on air-con, a nice bed and a fridge to keep the beers nice and chilled. The fortress and campsite is about 20-30 mins walk from the centre of town. The bars around the campsite are quite busy so we avoided those and went in to town where you can get a seat and relax with the locals.
People don't like camping at EXIT for good reason. The festival only stops at 9am. By the time you get back to your tent it's 35 degrees out..... Tents are like green houses. I don't know how anybody camps at exit. I couldn't even sleep with the heat in the hotel.
Can't believe people are actually stupid enough to camp in Serbia, it gets way too hot over there, I think last year Belgrade was in the 50s for a good portion of the summer. Novi Sad I believe is cooler but being in a huge crowd with such temperatures can't be too good of a thing.
Camping was a decent laugh but security was shite. Get a room or make sure your camping stuff is really safe and you have nothing worth stealing (we just kept our passports and money in a belt 24/7).
Camping is pretty hot, but we had no issues with security whilst we were there. The atmosphere in the campsite was pretty awesome from 1pm onwards with the beach stage playing some pretty good tunes and getting everyone ready for the night ahead.
Trains
Last year I flew to Budapest with a budget airline then got the train direct to Novi Sad with a few hundred other festival goers.The train was cheap (about 20 quid), but was well overbooked and we stood for the entire 9hr journey. This year I ain't messing around with budget airlines to Budapest or Ljubliana. We have booked ourselves a flight to and from Belgrade. It doesn't cost a great deal more than the budget airline and train set up (200quid), and it saves a lot of messing about.
The train was a good laugh, met loads of sound folk on the journey. Meeting other people traveling around the region was really good fun, but the train is very busy, you won't get a seat unless you book one, and if you don't get one, you can be stuck in the corridor standing for the whole journey & it can get a bit rowdy (a lot of beer was consumed!)
The train from Budapest - I sat sweating my arse off not being able to get to a toilet (thus drinking very frugally), or eat or do anything really apart from wait to get off the thing. It took 6-8 hours. Foolishly I got the return journey too. Without a doubt the worst journey we have ever been on. More like a survival mission than anything else.
I wouldn't recommend the train!!
On Exitfest.org it says that there will definitely be more carriages on the train this year - how reliable do you think that is? The LAST thing I want to do is be stuck on a train for 6 hours with no seat and no toilet!
Serbia
Me and a few friends went to exit last year and had a brilliant time. May very well be going back this year seeing as it suits my finances a treat! We were a bit apprehensive about travelling to Serbia as we had no idea what it would be like, but rest assured it
was fine. I didn't feel any more unsafe there than I would walking around London, and the majority of Serbian people there were really friendly.
I do suggest people check out Belgrade if they can though, great city despite all the bad press us Serbs get. The Times actually had it listed as one of the top 6 cities in the world. Great clubs, restaurants, bars, couple of historic football clubs (if there's a Red Star European match go to it because the atmosphere will be like nothing you'll ever see again).
The Fest.
Last year the crowd for Prodigy was pretty big and I wouldn't like to have been at the front, but apart from that it was fine (on the main stage). No worse than any other Brit festival. Same with the toilets, in fact if you used your brain a little you could walk to the quiet ones maybe 2 mins away
Last year fest finished at 9am.We were straight into a taxi and straight onto a flight. I might consider staying an extra day or 2 this time.
I went to Exit in 05 and 06 and would highly recommend it. Every Serbian I met was really friendly and the atmosphere there was great. Everyone else I know who went thought the same.
I'm definitely going again this year.
I am in to my dance music and I thought it was very varied. Roger Sanchez one night, Marko Nastic another. And if the music in the dance arena isn't to your taste then there was the happy novi sad stage and the urban bug stage which both played all forms of dance music over the 4 nights. We found the locals very friendly.
At the main arena last year the crowds were terrible. During 'Prodigy' I really thought I was going to get trampled. I hope this year they are more safety conscious. The other arenas are pretty good and there are loads so you can always find one with a bit of space if you are desperate.
Have survived the campsite and flats without aircon, so it can be done. But if you can possibly get it, it is a real bonus and well worth an extra few quid. In this specific case, sounds like whichever option you go for will be something of a compromise. You either sacrifice a degree of comfort, or the ability to get to and from the festival easily.
I wouldnt mind an apartment if it had aircon in the bedrooms.
One word of caution - if you go for aircon over location, prepare to be fleeced by taxi drivers every time you need to go anywhere.
I can't take the heat. We went back to Novi Sad last August and stayed in an apartment. There was no air con in the bed rooms. We had to bring the mattresses into the living room so we could sleep with the air con on!
It isn't as cheap as it could be. For a 4 person apartment in town we paid 700 euros (£520). £130 each for 6 nights isn't too bad, cant blame the locals for setting high prices, it is a bit of a risk renting your apartment out to festival goers, especially Brits, with the bad reputation that we sadly have
It's the hotels that annoy me, they have one rate for 360 days of the year, and a totally extortionate rate for the 5 days for Exit.
If "normal" is paying £120 for a room that is normally £40 then I might not be going next year!
I appreciate the people of Novi Sad want to make money out of Exit Festival, but to literally quadruple the cost of rooms there is a joke
I really don't want to camp, but I can't afford to pay £100 a night for a hotel room that is not worth anywhere near that kind of money, and I HATE being ripped off!
It's so annoying. Hotel Park's regular price is £110 for a 2 bed room. For exit 06 they bumped it up to £130 per room. Last year £180! This year I shudder to think.
That's nothing compared to some of the quotes I've got. Online it says a double room is £40 - when I've emailed to enquire they've replied saying that for the Exit period rooms are £120!!!
And the most annoying thing is, if these were really nice hotels I wouldn't mind.
Hotels are complete rip offs especially the smaller ones which are crap. prices are shamefully high & inflated for the festival
they are seriously out pricing themselves & spoiling it for EXIT
Staying in Hotel Park again this year, I know it's expensive but I for one think it's worth every penny, 90 euro per person for a 5 star hotel isn't exactly extortionate, room service and aircon in bed... heaven!!! Plus the first year we were there we met a few of the acts in the lobby.
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Suite 217, 99 Warwick St
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