EXIT festival marred by woman's death

16/07/2008

Although over 160,000 people visited this year's EXIT music festival in the northern Serbian town of Novi Sad, the tragic death of a young woman overshadowed the celebration.

By Igor Jovanovic for Southeast European Times in Belgrade – 16/07/08

A branch fell on the festival camp as visitors slept. [myexit.org]

The 8th annual EXIT festival, which was held in the northern Serbian town of Novi Sad from July 10th to the 13th, welcomed more than 160,000 young people from around the world. Visitors enjoyed performances by around 600 artists on as many as 25 stages.

However, the tragic death of a Serbian woman overshadowed the festivities. Jelena Matic, 28, from the town of Paracin, was killed on Sunday (July 13th) when a large branch crushed her tent. The branch, snapped off by gusts of wind, seriously injured three other young people -- two Macedonian citizens and a British woman.

Novi Sad Mayor Igor Pavlicic announced that an investigation will determine whether the city bears fault for failing to remove dangerous branches above the camp where the festival's visitors were sleeping. EXIT organisers proposed forming a foundation bearing Matic's name to finance the education of students from Paracin.

Overall, they expressed satisfaction with the number of visitors, even though it did not meet projections of 200,000. About 20,000 foreign visitors attended the festival from Singapore, Panama and Japan, while as many as 1,500 people came from Canada. According to festival organisers, 500 Australians attended the festival. The majority of foreigners came from Great Britain in organised groups. Hosts greeted visitors with bread, salt and plum brandy -- a traditional form of hospitality in Serbia.

The number of local visitors fell slightly below expectations, possibly because of the high cost of tickets -- a one-day festival pass cost up to 50 euros. The average Serbian earns about 350 euros monthly.

"This has been the best EXIT so far, with the exception of the accident that happened at the camp," said organiser Rajko Bozic.

The main stars of the festival were the anti-globalisation band Manu Chao and the British punk band The Sex Pistols, who played for the first time in Serbia. They closed the festival with a 90-minute show, including two encores.

EXIT -- which began eight years ago as a form of protest against the regime of Slobodan Milosevic -- demonstrated again this year that it is more than a music festival. The OSCE Mission to Serbia organised a number of panel discussions amidst the concerts.