Director Dušan Kovačević told IQ it is “too early to say when”. The election result behind his comments is preliminary.
EXIT Festival says it will return to Serbia, but it has not said when. Festival director Dušan Kovačević told IQ Magazine that “we said that EXIT will return when the freedom returns”. He spoke after Serbia’s parliamentary election on Sunday, Oct 25. The result is still preliminary.
The preliminary election result
Musikexpress reports preliminary figures from Serbia’s electoral commission. They give the student-backed list 52.71 percent of the vote and 140 of 250 seats. The alliance led by Aleksandar Vučić received 39.17 percent and 104 seats, the same report says. It adds that Vučić conceded defeat on election night. IQ reports that Serbia’s live music sector welcomed the result.
What Kovačević said about the EXIT Festival return
Kovačević told IQ: “This is like an earthquake. Everything is changing.” On a return, he said: “I can only say, at this point, that we said that EXIT will return when the freedom returns. So freedom is returning, and, of course, it’s too early to say when it will be possible.”
He also pointed to the scale of the event. “To organise a festival of that magnitude, it takes a lot of time,” he said. On the next steps, he told IQ: “We will see, in the coming weeks what the next steps will be – if EXIT is returning in 2028, or if something is possible in 2027 even.” Those years are his own words. EXIT Festival has not announced a date, a venue or a format. Musikexpress reports that the timing and form remain open.
Why EXIT left in the first place
EXIT Festival began in 2000 as a student movement for peace and freedom, Musikexpress notes. According to the same outlet, the festival said in June 2025 that its 25th anniversary edition would be the last in Serbia. IQ quotes EXIT as citing “fierce government pressure and complete withdrawal of over €1.5 million in public co-funding and government-controlled sponsorships”. For 2026, EXIT Festival announced events at international locations instead of a main edition in Novi Sad.
Meanwhile, clubs in Belgrade celebrated. Musikexpress reports that the club Drugstore posted videos of dancing people under the title “Raveland”. Musikexpress also says EXIT stated that freedom is back in Serbia.
Sources: IQ Magazine, Ciaran Donnelly, Oct 26, 2026; Musikexpress; EXIT Festival, 2026 Global Tour announcement
A crowd at EXIT Festival (file photo from an earlier EXIT edition; not from the election). EXIT Festival © Miloš Krstić, via IQ Magazine
