Edging east to EXIT
By DanVF on 10 August 2008
Like hundreds of festival fans who've spent the last few days unwinding from Croatia's Garden Festival, VF is heading east, across the Serbian border to EXIT Festival in the town of Novi Sad. Organisers here say they're noticing a real
explosion in festival fans attending Garden as part of a European tour, and what better way to warm up for the mind-blowing
EXIT, winner of last year's 'Best European Festival' in the UK Festival Awards. We met one group of guys who came
straight to Garden from Glastonbury, literally left the Worthy Farm gates on Monday morning before driving five days across
Europe and down to the Balkans. We politely declined a lift from them, reckoning the eight hour drive might smell some, and
have instead opted for a lift with a group from Birmingham who we met in a bombed out bar last night. It literally had no
roof, allowing for warm-breezed views over the small village of Petrcane, home of Garden Festival, for many since last Thursday.
We'll certainly miss this place, despite it being almost empty of festival goers now. Like all the best
parties, Garden Festival takes a while to actually finish. Officially it was Sunday night, Sunday night turned into Monday
morning as we danced to some of the best music of the whole weekend, courtesy of the brilliant DJ Dennis Ferrer, and then
two unofficial boat parties were held on Monday afternoon, as well. Those who've made the trip tend to stick around and
enjoy some gentle village life following the days and nights of hedonism on boat parties and dance floors. The chilled holiday
atmosphere, chatting to new found friends about fun times shared over huge, fresh fish platters, is as much part of being
here as jumping round the beach terrace on a Saturday afternoon. The locals, too, embrace this side of the experience and
are among the most welcoming festival hosts you could ever encounter, during and after. If you just come here for the weekend
you'll be missing out. Garden Festival can be a holiday, a halfway house, a springboard for EXIT - or all three - but
it in a time very much of its own and a unique and special one at that.
So time to leave the Petrcane peninsula
for a Pertovian fortress. Onto EXIT tonight for what's going to be another eye-opening European encounter. We'll keep
you posted on all the goings on, including sets by Sex Pistols, Weller and NERD, before we move north up to Slovakia for Povoda
festival next weekend, for the final leg of our Eastern Europe odyssey.
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