Serbia’s Exit festival may go ‘into exile’ amid government pressure over student protests

This year's edition to be last held in country after Belgrade withholds funding over support of anti-corruption activists

One of Europe's largest music festivals will no longer be held in Serbia and could go into exile" in Germany or a neighbouring Balkan state after Belgrade withheld funding over its support of the country's anti-corruption student protesters.

Exit festival, which is held every July in a medieval bastion fortress in Serbia's second city, Novi Sad, was founded in 2000 by student activists from the protest movement that helped topple Slobodan Miloevi. Affordable ticket prices and starry lineups mean it has acquired a reputation as Europe's premier music event with a social conscience, with 210,000 people from more than 80 countries attending in 2024.