Peaches & Iggy Pop Headline Serbia's State Of Exit (July 1-4)
Author: Jonty Skrufff
Tuesday, June 1, 2004
The fortress, a giant 18th century fairytale style castle perched on a massive vertical slab of volcanic rock overlooking the River Danube, will be catering to over 50,000 revellers each night, festival organise Paxton Talbot told Skrufff this week, with music, dancing and partying continuing for the entire four day period.
"Generally what people do is go up to the festival in the evening then stay at the Fortress until about 8am when it finishes, then everyone goes to the after-parties on the beach and crashes out by the river during the day," said Paxton.
"The fortress is on a bend of the river Danube and on the other side of the bank we've got all the camping facilities. The Danube in that area has lots of beaches surrounded by wooded areas. I can't tell you how much fun the festival is, everyone that's been before loves it," he added.
"It's also so cheap; it's 30p for a good quality beer, It's 35ºC in the day time and 25º at night, the music's great, the women are gorgeous, it's just a good buzz. It also has that certain edginess about it.'
The edginess stems party from Serbia's recent war torn history, which saw NATO forces bombing Novi Sad for over a month in 1999 (a pontoon bridge continues to substitute for the former 6 lane highway bridge) and also the country's political climate, which saw Serbia's Nationalist party recently coming to power. However, Paxton insists the festival, and Serbia in general, is generally extremely safe.
"I've been going in and out of Serbia regularly for the last five years and I've never had any problems," he insisted.
"It was a little frightening the first time I went, I was thinking to myself what am I getting myself in to here, but it was an adventure and it was a great experience and that element just added to the atmosphere."
"The political situation is also not a problem, even the Radical party acknowledge the fact that there's no going back now, they recognise the importance of becoming integrated into Europe," he added.
"They have a democratic process over there and now you've got predominantly just two leading parties and even though on paper it looks like there's a radical movement over there, it's more like having a Labour party and Conservative party as it is in the UK."
UK revellers can also purchase package trips to the event from £245, which includes flight, accommodation and festival tickets. For more information call Avant Garde Travel on 0044 20 7836 1414.
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