r/Exitfestival • u/MembershipPurple3800 • Jul 15 '25
Exit Festival - was it always this chaotic?
I just attended Exit for the first time (after wanting to go since 2013). I’m super glad I got to see the last one, but I want to know from people who attended this year and have been previous years, was it always this disorganised and chaotic?
I’ve been to quite a few different festival cross Europe and nothing compared to this! Awful disorganised crowds to enter, no signs, staircases made of scaffolding that felt like it was about to fall apart, no free water, so overcrowded in dance arena that leaving to get drinks or bathroom breaks was impossible, some of the most awful bathrooms I’ve ever seen, no handwashing stations, no recycling and rubbish everywhere, security staff even taking people’s hand sanitiser off them!
Don’t get me wrong, I saw some incredible sets, the energy of the last night was absolutely insane, met some awesome people and am so glad I got to attend.
But in 2024 this was ranked 8th on the DJ Mag list of top 100 festivals… dropped to 28th this year. I’m aware of the political issues and government tension (and this likely being the last Exit in Novi Sad) and was wondering if that had potentially lead to lack of funds of overall poor organisation and infrastructure? Or is this just a festival that was on its last legs anyway?
I just find it hard to believe that a festival with so much chaos and so little organisation has previously won awards and been ranked so highly.
So… was exit always like this? Or did I just witness a particularly Wild West finale?
4
u/Arturo64328 Jul 15 '25
Welcome to the balkans, last year was the same.
2
u/MembershipPurple3800 Jul 15 '25
Hahaha I was with some Hungarian friends who were like “yep typical Balkan madness” 😂 Don’t get me wrong I love the Balkan countries though! I went to sea star earlier this year as well and thought even that was much better organised (I’m aware it’s run by exit also)
2
Aug 22 '25
As a Balkaner/Serbian who lives in Sweden since 30 years back. I kinda miss the unorganized Balkans. You kinda live to the max. Here you are just another zombie working 8-5... It's in our blood. A little chaos is good for us :D
1
u/Arturo64328 Jul 15 '25
The further south you go, the more chaotic it is 😂. Sea Star Festival was ok, but still light years behind the Dutch or German festivals in terms of organization.
4
u/nslionking Jul 16 '25
Yes and no, the fortress itself is a big logistical issue, at least half of the stages are not accesible by a truck so everything is brought in by hand, the Dance Arena has only the small tunnel used as the backstage/vip entrance for everything you see there to get to that spot thru that tunnel which only a small traktor with trailer can pass making a few 100 passes, so it is a lot harder than making a festival on a field or stadium.
This year the situation is a lot worse since they had a big budget cut by the state goverment not giving any money to the festival so a lot of extra stuff had to be cut off. Decoration, some chill spots, additional activities, the number of drink and food stands, all got a cut .
So it used to be a bit better , but the space used does not help with managing 50 000 people a night , but I have to say that there were no mass incidents ever on exit, a few people did fall over the fance in the last 10 years, but most of them where on some bad drugs and did it intensionaly
2
u/jovan1987 Jul 16 '25
I didn't attend this year, have been 4 times previously, but what you describe, is generally my experience in previous years, at the Dance Arena anyway.
I was in Novi Sad Tuesday & Wednesday this year though, before the festival start, and it was noticeably quiter than I remember previous years, less to just about no EXIT stalls & activities going on around the city.
1
u/MembershipPurple3800 Jul 19 '25
I noticed this too. Like not a single sign, flag, billboard. Even when I went to Sea Star there were signs etc. round Umag, and figured the change for Exit might be due to the political situation
1
u/jovan1987 Jul 20 '25
I think the loss of funding played a big part, and now seeing they're trying to raise money through a membership model, seems to back that thinking up.
2
u/Tihrandel Jul 16 '25
This year was worse. I missed the app with live map, i missed signs for stages and how to get to them. Trash was always like this at least as i remmember it. Scaffolding was always like this. Toilets are in my opinion not that bad, but yeah nowhere to wash hands, no idea why they were taking hand sanitizers and wet tissues. I dont remmember free water.
2
u/Fresh_Maximum1184 Jul 17 '25
Im from Novi Sad and this is the first year I didn’t go since 2011 so I’m not sure about this year’s festival, but I can confirm that the recycling and the junk part was always like that, no reusable cups whatsoever, you just throw the plastic cup on the ground when you finish your beer (sad, i know). Theres also only one water station with drinking water at the whole festival which should be illegal imo. The security and the police is awful. They took my SEALED magnesium last year. But all of this is to be expected since the ticket price is much cheaper than any other festival in Europe tbf.
2
u/vila-ravijojla Jul 17 '25
You get what you pay for buddy 😂 €65 for 4 days, what did you expect
1
u/MembershipPurple3800 Jul 17 '25
I’m not sure which festival you’re talking about, but even the super early bird (cheapest) tickets were €129…
3
u/vila-ravijojla Jul 17 '25
Oh I forgot they scam foreigners :P For locals the super early bird price was something like 7000-8000 rsd this year
2
u/MembershipPurple3800 Jul 17 '25
I wouldn’t call it a scam. It’s not unusual for festivals to offer cheaper tickets to their national residents. Also encourages attendance and local morale. Also not really the ooh t of my post, as I image it has always been relatively cheap compared to other similar sized festivals yet has still previously ranked highly and won awards
1
u/vila-ravijojla Jul 17 '25
Most locals have free accommodation for the festival while foreigners have to pay for hotels, transit, food etc… so foreigners are the ones at a loss
Maybe awards were based on price to quality ratio and the price is low 😂
1
Jul 18 '25
What are you yapping about ? Most locals have free accommodation. Well no shit, they are locals. For other exyu people who are not from Niš, they pay accommodation like everyone else. In some cases they will give you a more slightly more friendly price and that’s it, unless you are from Croatia 😂. Slovenians pay for accommodation like everyone else, but the ticket is cheaper as par exyu policy. This is across all festivals in Balkans. Same thing for Ultra festival last week, exyu had cheaper tickets.
However, locals across Balkans are scamming tourists left and right for decades. You know the famous soba 10eur, zimmer 20eur, room 30eur meme. It’s fucking true.
Fuck vucic pederu and also fuck scammy people in tourist industry across Balkans. Go fuck a goat next year and in the future when tourists leave. It’s going to be great going back to being a choban 😂
1
u/vila-ravijojla Jul 19 '25 edited Jul 19 '25
What are YOU tapping about? First of all EXIT is in Novi Sad not Niš, so I doubt you have even been to this festival.
The vast majority of locals who come know someone in Novi Sad and get free accommodation. I hosted 3 friends this year.
Also “ex Yu” =/= locals. When I say locals I mean people living in Serbia. Try telling a Croatian or Slovenian they are a “local in Serbia” you will get stabbed.
Not to mention Vojvodina is a traditionally agricultural and NOT pastoralist area, so even your insults show a stunning lack of knowledge and fall flat on their face.
Dumbass.
1
Jul 19 '25
Jao brate. Izvini haha. Mislio sam novi sad lol. Smiri s stabbingom lol koji ti je kurac jesi ti normalan.
2
u/Curious-Song-1767 Jul 18 '25
Oh my god it’s like you went last year. I had the exact same experience as you. We booked camping and there was no communication on where it was, so we spent hours searching in the city until a local knew where to go. Absolute chaos! scaffolding felt so dangerous, no real signage of where to go. Felt incredibly cheap and disorganized. They were still building the set the day prior…. Super cheap and amazing acts made it worth it but you’re not alone in how you felt.
1
u/MembershipPurple3800 Jul 19 '25
Omg they didn’t even tell you how to get to camping? Wtf. From the reports here it sounds like this year was maybe slightly worse again but it’s been declining for a while. I truly don’t understand how as recently as 2023 it was in the world top 10 - I know the DJ Mag list I’m referencing relies on votes, but still if it had always been pretty chaotic idk how it ranked so well. Like the sets and energy were amazing and I’m so glad I did get to see it. But fucking mayhem.
1
u/MembershipPurple3800 Jul 17 '25
Free accom only if you live nearby, not elsewhere in the country. And all big festivals rely on people to travel to them. We know the costs. That’s not a scam
1
u/Cucc99 Jul 18 '25
Idk what youre talking about, given the circumstances the festival went by pretty smoothly. Wasnt the most refined when it comes to organization and “crowd control” but overall no significant injuries/ deaths, only Loreen cancelled so the artists showed up big time as well. Plentiful support when it comes to littering and mental support/ first aid. The fortress itself is a big factor so that may be your issue
2
u/MembershipPurple3800 Jul 19 '25
The organisation of a festival shouldn’t be counted on by significant injuries and deaths. Someone could die at festival because of an underlying condition that’s leads to an event precipitated by alcohol, dehydration, drugs etc. Doesn’t mean the festival is to blame. I also don’t know what other festivals you’ve been to. But I’ve never seen anything as wild as this. Most festivals at least have signs to point to the stages. Even more important in a rabbit warren like the fortress (which was cool, but made navigation hard and their map was fucking shit). Sooo many things that could have been done so much better that have nothing to do with death or injury, but significantly impact the experience had by tens of thousands of people
6
u/NikaInverse Jul 16 '25
Yes, you're correct, a lot of factors contributed to the poor quality this year (lack of funds/death of one of the organizers/the political situation in the country etc.) I've been going to Exit since 2010, and it used to be incredible. Even up until last year, there used to be a few more small additional stages (Drum n bass, As FM for popular club music etc.) an entire secluded area for workshops (DIY stands, a mental health tent where you can take tests/talk about anything, huge Jenga for people to play together etc.) different promotional stalls at the major crossroad between stages (that was completely empty and barren this year), with amazing lights, artwork specifically created for Exit (like graffiti on the railing, huge baloons, colorful signs, posters, billboards etc.)
This year, I think apart from the issues the organization had to face in order to make the festival happen, the staff also possibly wanted to send a message by intentionally not decorating the festival, especially since the tragedy was mentioned so many times, and most of the artists spoke about the protests at least briefly, so maybe the message was that it's not exactly the time to celebrate, but just stand united through music...? Idk.
Anyway, yes, the festival was much better before, there's no denying that, but also, the fortress in itself is a bit confusing, even for locals! We'd always talk about not recognizing certain parts of the fortress that are actually the central parts of Exit (like the main stage) when walking by on regulat days, and how difficult it is to connect the two editions of the fortress...so unfortunately, maps and signs also never really helped with getting around, we'd always hear about spots at the festival we missed or didn't know about, and never got to visit from other people who went, and it has been like that pretty much from the beginning...it's also one of the cool and exciting things about Exit- the exploration! The security team with the yellow jackets are positioned at all restricted or empty areas, and it's their job to redirect the crowd to the festival grounds, but apart from them- you're pretty much left to your own navigational skills at the fortress!
Thanks for the question, I hope I provided some insight :)