EUROPEAN FESTIVALS – EXIT
LEADERS IN THE FIELD
The challenges that the festival industry has faced since the pandemic are as well documented as they are numerous. Last year, on top of the core issues such as increased production costs and changed audience behaviour, the political backdrop led to a third of major festivals being the subject of boycotts, while others were forced to close.
Opening the European Festival Awards earlier this year, European Festival Association( YOUROPE) general secretary Holger Jan Schmidt made a rallying cry for event operators to collectively resist political pressure.
“ They work with fear to separate people. You guys don ' t work with fear, you work with love and the festival magic that can change lives forever,” he said.“ That ' s why it is our task and strong belief that if political leaders across Europe are not creating the union we need, it is
Despite the countless challenges, ranging from extreme weather and extremely expensive artists to extreme political pressure, many European Festivals are proving resilient, finding innovative ways to adapt and even thrive. Access hears how the heads of some of the continent’ s biggest events are adapting to change.
us who need to stand together, support those who are oppressed, and meet these challenges. It will not be comfortable, but would you rather be comfortable or on the right side of history?”
Serbia’ s 55,000-capacity EXIT Festival has long provided a platform for free speech, having been launched by Dušan Kovačević and Ivan Milivojev as part of a student movement against the regime of then-leader Slobodan Milošević back in 2000.
Over the past 25 years the event blossomed to become one of Europe’ s biggest festivals, attracting partygoers and performers from far and wide. EXIT may be located in a fortress, but that has not helped it withstand political pressure.
“ EXIT’ S FIGHT ISN’ T JUST SERBIAN, IT’ S EUROPEAN.”
In 2024, mass demonstrations in Serbia gained momentum after 16 people were killed when a roof collapsed at a newly renovated train station in Novi Sad, EXIT’ s home city. Many Serbians blamed the collapse on corruption linked to President Aleksandar Vucic and the neoliberal SNS party. EXIT publicly aligned itself with the protestors and has since been stripped of more than € 1.5 million in government funding and governmentcontrolled sponsorship.
34 accessaa. co. uk