EXIT strategy: Serbian fest heads to Egypt

EXIT’s founder and CEO Dušan Kovačević has lifted the lid on a “new era” for the organisation – including the first-ever multi-day festival at the Pyramids of Giza – in an exclusive interview with IQ.

The Serbian festival took place for the 25th and final time in Novi Sad earlier this month due to “mounting pressure” from the government and “threats aimed at silencing our right to free expression,” amid student-led protests.

But while EXIT’s full schedule of 2026 events will be confirmed later this year, one is almost certain: the first-ever multi-day, multi-stage festival at the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt.

“When the news broke out that EXIT was leaving Serbia, we got a lot of invitations from all over, from Malta to India,” says Kovačević. “When we do new festivals, we always do a new brand that is tailored for the destination. EXIT isn’t Coca-Cola, it can’t be replicated. It’s tied to the Petrovaradin Fortress, which is seen as one of the most spectacular festival venues in the world.

“We feel that the pyramids are so symbolic that this event will have everything that EXIT stands for,” he says. “There is a lot of darkness everywhere in the world, but many people see the pyramids as pillars of light, so we will be making a strong message with that.”

Details are being finalised, but Kovačević has revealed the Egyptian spin-off is likely to take place next October – and not under the EXIT name. As for the musical direction of the event, he hints that the programme will be eclectic but with an emphasis on electronic music.

“EXIT is multi-genre but what we are best known for is our dance arena,” Kovačević explains. “So that is definitely something that we would like to also bring to the new events next year. But it’s possible we’ll also bring rock and roll to the pyramids one day. It’s something that we are now discussing with local partners, agencies and sponsors.”

Next year could also see the return of Sea Dance Festival to Montenegro after a four-year absence

EXIT has already enlisted Venture Lifestyle, a local promoter that has organised concerts for the likes of Jennifer Lopez, John Legend and Black Eyed Peas at Egyptian venues, including the pyramids.

“It’s always challenging when you do something for the first time, so that’s why we must combine the experience of the local partner with the experience of our team,” says Kovačević. “I’m sure that together we’ll be able to create a smooth operation.”

Next year could also see the return of Sea Dance Festival to Montenegro after a four-year absence. The 40,000-capacity festival, which launched in the Balkan country in 2014, was forced out of the country months before its 2023 edition was due to take place because of an EU law that limits state aid.

In place of the 2023 Montenegro event, Sea Dance in Exile took place across three days on the island of Krk in Croatia.

“It took three years but we finally got the confirmation that the arbitrage is finishing this year in our favour,” says Kovačević. “When the new prime minister of Montenegro stepped into office, he invited us to do Sea Dance again.

“Montenegro doesn’t have a major festival, so the new government is very ambitious about promoting tourism, especially now EXIT isn’t taking place in neighbouring Serbia.”

Sea Dance garnered over €60 million for the tourism economy until 2023 and attracted some of the world’s biggest stars such as The Prodigy, Jamiroquai, David Guetta, Skrillex, Underworld, Fatboy Slim, John Newman, Sean Paul, Robin Schulz and Amelie Lens.

“We had to have a real fight with the government to make EXIT happen”

Alongside new and renewed events, 2026 will see the return of EXIT’s Sea Star festival in Umag, Croatia, and its recently launched music and tech conference, Bridge.

In regards to EXIT’s flagship festival, Kovačević is hopeful that the event can return to Serbia in a couple of years, when the dust has settled.

Mass demonstrations have gathered momentum in the nine months since 16 people were killed when a roof collapsed at a newly renovated train station in Novi Sad, Serbia’s second-biggest city and the home of EXIT. Many Serbians blame the collapse on corruption and incompetence linked to President Aleksandar Vucic’s decade in power and the neo-liberal SNS party.

As a festival born from a student movement across Serbia, the EXIT team publicly aligned itself with the protestors – much to the government’s dismay.

“We had to have a real fight with the government to make EXIT happen,” says Kovačević. “It was not just that they cancelled our subsidies, they made all kinds of threats, such as cancelling the event and pressuring the companies that were working for the festival.”

“I strongly believe that the music industry combined is stronger than any government in the world”

Kovačević says it was a “game of nerves” in the days leading up to the festival as the government delayed granting the license until 48 hours before the event.

“We didn’t back down,” he says. “I told them EXIT will happen anyway on the streets, and then it will be chaos. I think that was when they understood that it’s better for Exit to happen as a regular festival, even with all of the messages supporting the students of Serbia, than to happen on the street.

“Plus, the government ultimately understood that cancelling the festival would really be a sign that Serbia has slipped into full autocracy.”

EXIT ultimately lost €1.5 million – around 20% of the festival’s budget – in subsidies and sponsorship controlled by the government, according to the founder and CEO.

Today (28 July), the festival has launched a crowdfunding campaign to help recover some of the costs, but Kovačević says it’s much more than money at stake in the fight against the Serbian government.

“It’s about taking a stand for basic rights, universal principles like justice and freedom,” he says. “We see this as a universal fight, that we’re defending these rights for any cultural stakeholder anywhere.

“I strongly believe that the music industry combined is stronger than any government in the world, and if we stick together, we’ll all be better off.”

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