EXIT Festival Plans Return to Novi Sad Fortress, With a 2027 Edition and a 2028 Comeback
EXIT Festival has announced that it is coming back to Petrovaradin Fortress in Novi Sad, Serbia. The organisers said on 29 October 2026 that a special edition will be held at the fortress in 2027, with a full-scale comeback in 2028.
The festival has been dark for a year. Billboard reported that EXIT did not stage an event in 2026 because of political, security and financial pressures. In the meantime, it put on events in six other countries, including Malta, Croatia and Spain.
EXIT was first held in 2000 as part of a student movement that helped vote Slobodan Milošević out of power in Yugoslavia's presidential elections. The festival has publicly backed Serbian students over the past year. That backing has come against a hard backdrop. A canopy collapse at Novi Sad railway station in November 2024 killed 16 people, and it sparked protests over alleged corruption and government negligence. In May, Miloš Kovačević, the brother of EXIT founder and CEO Dušan Kovačević, was detained on the eve of a major student protest.
The political picture changed in October. Serbia held early parliamentary elections on 25 October, and the student-led movement defeated the alliance led by President Aleksandar Vučić's Serbian Progressive Party. The Student List took 52.71% of the vote and 140 of the 250 seats in parliament. Vučić had resigned in September ahead of the snap election, and Reuters reported that he conceded defeat. Thousands gathered in the capital, Belgrade, on 26 October to celebrate.
EXIT's announcement carried a clear message. In a statement, the festival said, "after taking EXIT's spirit around the world, we are finally coming home." It also posted "EXIT IS COMING HOME!" on Instagram. The official announcement, headed "NEXT YEAR AT THE FORTRESS!", promises the fortress return in 2027.
The timing of the full-scale comeback comes down to preparation. EXIT said its original plan was to return in 2028, because a full-scale edition needs at least 18 months of planning. The festival has not yet announced dates or a lineup for either year.
The fortress has a record of large crowds. In 2023, The Prodigy drew more than 44,000 people there, according to the festival. The 2025 anniversary edition featured DJ Snake, Solomun and Eric Prydz.
British band Fontaines D.C. also marked the election result on stage. The group acknowledged the student movement's victory during a performance in Belgrade on 28 October.
For now, fans have a year to wait for the first return to the fortress, and two years for the full edition. Dates and programming for both will come later.
