Born from the student protests back in 2000, EXIT quickly grew into one of the most popular and respected music festivals on the planet. After publicly supporting the current mass student protests in Serbia, EXIT Festival is facing fierce government pressure and complete withdrawal of over €1.5 million in public co-funding and government-controlled sponsorships. The festival is also encountering other serious political and security threats aimed at silencing its voice and financially draining it into shutdown.
“The recent EXIT Festival is of immeasurable importance – a historical moment when one music festival boldly stood up against fierce governmental pressure aimed at silencing our freedom of speech and suppressing our support for Serbia’s brave students. We stood stronger than any attempt at state repression and demonstrated that unity, solidarity and love still triumphs over fear, and that art cannot be silenced.” said Dušan Kovačević, the founder of the EXIT Festival group. He added: “Through this crowdfunding campaign, we are standing up for the independence of an entire organization and the people behind it. We strongly believe this is a moment for the music industry to unite, protect one of its own, and demonstrate that collectively it is stronger than any government in the world. By defending independence and freedom for EXIT, we defend the freedom of all artists, music professionals, and organizations in the music industry who might face similar pressures anywhere in the world. Because the fight for freedom for one is the fight for freedom for all.”
