Bloggers weigh in on EXIT 2008 and tragic death at festival

18/07/2008

EXIT 2008 is marred by a tragedy that caused bloggers to raise questions regarding the death of a young woman.

By Davor Konjikusic for Southeast European Times in Belgrade – 18/07/08

Serbia's EXIT 2008 festival receives mixed reviews from the bloggers. [Davor Konjikusic]

A major regional musical event, the EXIT festival in the northern Serbian city of Novi Sad, witnessed a tragedy on July 13th. Strong winds caused a large linden tree's branch to fall on two tents in the festival's campground. Jelena Matic, 29, of Paracin, Serbia, died, and other two guests from Macedonia suffered serious injuries.

The tragedy almost overshadowed this year's EXIT festival. Bloggers are asking who is responsible for the young woman's death, as Matic's mother said none of the EXIT organisers conveyed condolences to her or her family. Other bloggers, however, express enthusiasm over the energy or spotlight some shortcomings of the event.

"They called her mother on Monday, but media constantly quote her as saying that no one called … I really do think that the accident couldn't have been avoided. ... During that weekend, 14 other persons died in accidents all over Serbia and they received no media coverage," wrote Rande on the website of Blic.

Commenting on the EXIT tragedy, another blogger had a different opinion. "The job of the EXIT organisers, and the festival's general manager, Bojan Boskovic, is to ensure that no one dies or gets hurt during the festival. It was his main job."

Other blogs mostly celebrate EXIT as the biggest party in the Balkans. This year, around 160,000 people visited the fortress in Novi Sad. As in years past, many festival-goers came to Serbia from the UK and other western countries.

"The EXIT festival came and went in a state of total bliss: four days of dancing seven to ten hours a night and grooving to some of my favorite artists and DJs, connecting with my Bosnian crew and taking some time off the bike," says peacepedaler.

"Anyone in Ibiza missing outdoor raves should really hop on a plane because EXIT's dances are missing only two things: a roof and a closing time," says an EXIT visitor in a personal journal.

Most bloggers enjoyed themselves, but some were less than enthusiastic. "A festival like EXIT doesn't have much to offer to those with sophisticated musical tastes. And that gets more and more obvious every year," says a mojblog blogger .

Most critics of the festival expressed frustration with high prices and dust. "People, I almost died from the dust during the third and fourth nights of the festival. It looked to me like a chemical-weapon exercise carried out to see just how much dust human bodies could withstand," complains bob88.