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This is your page - please let us know about your experiences at the EXIT festival (see right). Please Note: All information is contributed by veteran festival goers and Exit Connect UK neither endorses, agrees nor disagrees with this information. These are experiences contributed by yourselves & although we do try to ensure that remarks are not offensive, we take no responsibility for defamatory remarks.
Please click on the section titles below to go straight to the information you want.
Editorial and news
What the Stars had To Say
Eating out in Serbia
Camping
Trains
Serbia
The Fest
Accommodation
EXIT 2010 news - Line Up (updated June 2010)
Legendary Californian rock band Faith No More will bring a slice of metal history to life with an eagerly anticipated performance on theMain Stage. Also announcing The Klaxons, adding some dance punk to the mix and on the indie and rock tip, the ‘holy grail’ of punk rock Bad Brains will vibrate the fortress walls to the max with UK indie rock band The Horrors and Slovenian punk band Elvis Jackson in support. And the elusive DJ Shadow and delightful Ms Dynamite are also set to join the already confirmed Chemical Brothers, LCD Soundsystem, Mika, Missy Elliot, Placebo, Royksopp and Pendulum live.
The mighty Dance Arena adds Canadian funksters Chromeo live and Zombie Disco Squad to the already massive line up of David Guetta, Crystal Castles live, Ricardo Villalobos, Josh Wink, Moderat live, Crookers, Boys Noize, Erol Alkan, A-Trak, SebastiAn, Busy P, DJ Mehdi, Laidback Luke, Dirty South, Riva Starr, Black Rose, Ost & Kjex live, Solomun, Ida Engberg, and Wannabe A Star.
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EXIT is a also huge supporter ofDrum & Bass with 4 nights of big bassline sounds, the Main Stage after 2am program features the scene’s top artists including; DJ Zinc & Dynamite MC, DJ Friction & MC I.D, Breakage & Stamina MC, London Elektricity & MC Wrec, Foreign Beggars, DJ Randall & MC Moose, Mistajam & MC Majestic, Plastician, DJ Chef & MC Flowdan, South Rakkas Crew feat Serocee & Lady Chann.
And if that wasn’t enough, EXIT is crammed with over 20 stages featuring a broad and staggering array of artists. The Fusion Stage is where you will find some of the coolest bands featuring New York experimental rocksters Yeasayer, Sweden’s trio Miike Snow, Berlin based indie punk band Bonaparte and Croatia’s TBF joining the already confirmed Does it Offend You Yeah?, Midnight Juggernauts, Jamaica, Antenat and Bambi Molesters to name but a few.
While the Happy Novi Sad Stage in Association with Resident Advisor this year continues to showcase some of the best cutting edge and upcoming talent from the world of electronic, featuring showcases from: Warp Records feat Hudson Mohawke, Clark live, Time Exile live and Rustie, Bristol Takeover feat Joker, Pinch, Gemmy and MC Nomad Sound Pellegrino feat Brodinksi, Sound Pellegrino Thermal Team, and L-VIS 1990 Club Automatic feat D-Bridge, Instra:mental and MC:SP
The Elektrana Stage features the best in electronic up & coming bands such as The Twelves, We Have Band, Tesla Boy, Starsmith, Jevelen, Romantic Jurgen and many more.
And for those who like their music a bit tougher, the Explosive Stage brings you the best in hardcore and thrash metal. Acts include; Behemoth, Suicidal Tendencies, The Exploited, Al & The Blackcats, Ex Deo, Decapitated, Inspector Cluso and a whole lot more!
Acts confirmed so far for EXIT 2010
The Chemical Brothers
Faith No More
Mika
Klaxons
Placebo
Missy Elliott
David Guetta
Pendulum Live
Ricardo Villabos
LCD Soundsystem, Röyksopp, Chromeo, Crystal Castles, Suicidal Tendencies, The Exploited, Klaxons, Ricardo Villalobos, Does It Offend You, Yeah?, The Horrors, Yeasayer, Cathedral, Behemoth, DJ Shadow, Bad Brains, Ms Dynamite, Miike Snow, Moderat live, Josh Wink, Crookers, Laidback Luke, A-Trak, Boys Noize, Erol Alkan, SebastiAn, Brodinski, Busy P, DJ Mehdi, Rui Da Silva, Dirty South, Riva Starr, We Have Band, Midnight Juggernauts, DJ Zinc & Dynamite MC, DJ Friction & MC I.D, Lollobrigida, Black Rose (Jesse Rose & Henrik Schwarz), Obojeni Program, The Twelves, Jamaica, Ritam Nereda, Juvelen, Hudson Mohawke, Ost & Kjex live, Solomun, Joker, D-Bridge, Breakage & Stamina MC, London Elektricity & MC Wrec, Foreign Beggars, DJ Randall & MC Moose, Mistajam & MC Majestic, Plastician, DJ Chef & MC Flowdan, South Rakkas Crew feat. Serocee & Lady Chann, Zombie Disco Squad, Al & The Blackcats, Antenat, Arigo Pentrado, Ashen Epitaph, Awaiting Fear, Bambi Molesters, B King + Andrea, Bombarder, Bonaparte, Caligari, Clark, Cinnaman, Concrete Sun, Consecration, Citizen X, Dargoron, Dead Trash + Frajle, D-Bridge, Decapitated, Decontrolled, Direct Control + Kalson, Disdained, Dozer, Dr Vokoder, Elvis Jackson, Ex Deo, Gemmy & MC Nomad, Grasshopper, G.U.B., Help Me Jones, High Control, Hitman, Instra:mental & MC:SP, Joker, Ida Engberg, I Divine, If Senses Fear, the Inspector Cluso, Inje, In From the Cold, Iva Starkova, Jonty Skrufff & Fidelity Kastrow, Juha, Kawasaki 3p, Killo Killo, Koh, Kolaps, , L-Vis 1990, MAD Goya, Metatron, Murder, Moment of Clarity, Papercutz, Petrol, Pinch, Punished, Radiolokator, Retro + Vito, Romantic Jurgen, Rustie, Samrt, S.A.R.S., Sexy Sushi, Shortpant Romance, SMUT, SOK 91, Sound Pellegrino Thermal Team, Spaceeater, Starsmith, Stereo Addiction, Stuttgart Online, Sweet Sorrow, The Gaslamp Killer, The Good Guys Live, Tamerlan, Tide, Tibia, Tim Exile, Trance Balkan Desorganisation, To Moj Tim, Too Young To Love, Toy Corner, Tesla Boy, Vehementer, Veliki Prezir, Vox Populi, Welicoruss, Wannabe A Star, Zea
MORE NEWS
Ryan Air annouces the cheapest flights to EXIT from the UK. Fly via Frankfurt to Osijek in Croatia. Details on the How To Get There page.
THE POLES TAKE AWAY THE COVETED EUROPEAN TOP FESTIVAL AWARD THIS YEAR
Heineken Open’er festival in Poland takes the top spot in this year’s festival awards. So it seems it’s true! Heineken reaches the parts other beers can’t!! Of course there are several elements involved in judging the” Best European Fest” and Health & Safety are at the top of the list. Unfortunately with the tragic death of a British festival goer last year this may have been a contributory factor in Exit’s fate at this years awards
Exit Festival is still one of the most remarkable festivals that Europe has thrown at us in recent years.
It will continue to strive for excellence & attract worldwide attention.
Exit Festival will win future awards as proved in 2007
Ed
Last year's news update
EXIT 2009
There was a tragic accident at the festival when a man died after falling from the fortress walls.
He was found at the bottom but there were no witnesses.
Barriers and security were not compromised at this well organised event.
NOTE: THE WALLS HAVE SECURITY BARRIERS DURING THE FEST BUT WE URGE ALL FESTIVAL GOERS TO TAKE CARE.
What's changed
Checks at the actual fest were more relaxed last year. Whoopie!
Buses in most areas put Exit placards in their windscreens saved a lot of working out on bus routes. 45p per ride if you want to save your legs.
Cabs still up to their old tricks especially the ones hovering around the railway station - £35 for a £5 ride.
Mainstream cabs the safest - the new red Skodas & the new yellow Golfs.
More info
Drug busts were isolated & mainly in the campsite. Heard of a few but most didn’t go any further than paying the “militia”(cops) off. £80 -100 of emptied pockets took care of it & you also got to keep the drug. Better than being hauled through the courts or a cell & a lot cheaper. Don’t whine just accept graciously.
Tip: Have less in your pockets then less will be taken away.
Zebra crossings are just for brightening up the dreary grey tarmac do not be under the illusion you can use them as pedestrian crossings. They are for Zebras only & as they don’t have any in Serbia drivers rarely stop. Traffic Light crossings are safer! (I was going to say pelican crossings but that would take us down another road & I reckon I’ve exhausted this subject already)
For those who like to be well organised in advance, booking your apartment this year will be somewhat expensive but at least off your tick list. For risk takers wait till a lot later when the landlords get worried & drop their prices.
We had scores of apartments last year at the last minute at much lower rates!
What the Stars had to say about EXIT festival
“It was great honour to be back at Exit Festival for the second time and play to the Serbian people. They made it something to remember for us, it has a crazy wild side that only very few festivals have. Bring us back again! We fukin’ luv it. Come on!!!” The Prodigy
“It was my first time in Serbia and didn’t know what to expect, but the EXIT audience was amazing!” Lily Allen
“It was an honour and a privilege to play such an important festival especially on its 10th anniversary. The crowd and the location were stunning. We hope we will be invited back.” Nicky Wire, James, Sean - Manic Street Preachers
“Most indeed it was a pleasure to play at such a well organised event.., Thank you for having us, we had a great time very, very special in more ways than one!” Roots Manuva
“Loved the exit gig! Playing with Eric Prydz was a fun challenge which turned out to be a memorable morning! Exit rocks!” Adam Beyer
“Once again Exit proves to be one of the best festivals in the world!!!” Nic Fanciulli
'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 festival Brits
Serbia is immensely affordable (a key student concern). A twenty-pack of Marlboro lights costs around £1.80, two litres of decent beer about £2, and a big meal about £3. This means, simply, you can get pissed, sick and give yourself lung cancer for very little.
NOVI SAD
Novi Sad itself is quite small and concrete, though rather more cosmopolitan and modern than you might think. Those in apartments (usually about £25 a night) head into town, whilst those camping (£25 for a week) caught a taxi to the top of the old army barracks in Petrovaradin: the site of Exit festival. Max Glover
No Indian restaurants in the whole of Serbia. Chinese restaurants are not at all like the UK, even with the genuine Chinese chefs. Everything is served or covered with a thick brown gooey sauce. I didn’t like the food but maybe I’m too fussy
Serbia gets a lot hotter than you might think, and the campsite lacks much in the way of shade. Crawling into your sleeping bag in your sauna of a tent at 8am, and being promptly awoken at 8.30am by the blistering sun, leaves you bleary-eyed to say the least. We found sanctuary at the river beach, one of the highlights of the holiday. Many a pleasant day was spent here.Max Glover
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 £1.20 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 60/70 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.
The train. Although quite possibly preferable to the overpriced coach journey, the train ride to Novi Sad felt like catching the last train out of Poland as the Nazi’s came up over the horizon. In this case, pushing works. And if you don’t get a seat then you face the prospect of hunching up on the floor or standing by the toilet for the entire six-hour journey, unfortunately upped to eight hours due to numerous Serbian border checks.Max Glover
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 25 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 (220quid), 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
Serbia is an oft-maligned part of Europe, somewhat untouched by the consumerism we might encounter in Britain. As a result, you are travelling to a country with a real sense of its own flavour and history. On the downside, it’s a bitch to get to. The vast majority of festival-goers seem to fly to Budapest, the capital of Hungary, and then from there catch a six-hour train to Novi Sad, the provincial university town in Northern Serbia, North-East of Belgrade. Max Glover
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 EXIT Festival itself
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.
Accommodation during EXIT festival
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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THIS IS THE GUY WHO STARTED IT ALL An interview on Revolution, Cruise Missiles & Jail By Jonty Skruff (Skruff.com) He even did a stint inside! Reported by on March 25, 2008 Four years later, Exit Festival is acknowledged as one of the premier destination festivals in the world, attracting over 10,000 Brits last year and countless thousands more from across the Balkans and the rest of Europe. Born out of an anti-Milosevic student campaign led by Bojan and his fellow Exit founders Dujan Kova?evi? and Ivan Milivojev, the event has become Serbia's biggest cultural asset for normalising relations with the EU. The people’s festival which came out of the ideas of freedom of speech and democracy. We're very pro-European; we see Serbia and the Balkans as an integral part of Europe and the European Union and we want to do everything in our power to be there as soon as possible." Rewinding to the last Balkans/ Kosovo conflict in 1999, Bojan and the rest of Novi Sad’s population endured a 3 month nightly bombing campaign by NATO forces, in which cruise missiles were used to terrorise the population and wipe out much of the city’s infrastructure. In 2005, the devastated bridge stumps still remained exposed and unrepaired close to the beach area site of Exit’s day time raves, only being repaired fully in 2006, though today the situation’s a lot quieter, says Bojan. Anyone who has been to the Exit Festival before knows that Serbians are very generous people. From 1995 onwards I witnessed pretty much all the horrors that were happening in Serbia, including the NATO bombing and everything else. Myself and the whole Exit crew also really lived this story of trying to fight against the autocratic regime of Milosevic and that's how Exit Festival started, We put a lot of heart into it and within two or three years we could already see the shape of Exit and we knew it was going to be a big deal internationally. And yet, you’d still turn around and see these bridges torn to pieces. It was an amazing sight and contradiction." Skrufff: What were you doing in Novi Sad in the 90s? You were jailed for a couple of weeks in 2004 just before that year’s Exit Festival Exit is a political organisation in that sense and we have quite a lot of political influence with the young people that come there. Young people in Serbia are banned from travelling, they cannot go to Europe, they cannot attend European universities- they’re isolated. Exit presents a window to them. It’s crazy that 20 years after the Berlin Wall you have another wall in Europe that’s even higher. We were three weeks before the festival and one week before the Presidential elections and some extreme elements of the government were looking for a scandal and they wanted to present us as people that are bad for Serbia. This story was developing for quite some time. They started by saying we were drug addicts then claimed we were thieves and were stealing money, so we were put in jail. It was very ridiculous, we had the police in our office for months." Bojan (Exit): "No, we were invited for an interview at which they informed us we were dangers to society then we were put in front of the judge, who was the same judge who operated throughout the 90s for the Milosevic government and was on their payroll." Skrufff: What did they charge you with? |
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