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Exit Festival will have to reduce capacity by 90% to go ahead this year following a spike in COVID-19 cases in Serbia. 

In a statement in May this year, Serbian prime minister Ana Brnabic said that the Serbian government expected the pandemic to be “totally under control” in Europe by August, and that it would be safe for the festival to take place in some capacity. The Novi Sad event, which attracted over 55,000 festivalgoers a day over four days in 2019, previously announced that it would be unable to take place as originally planned in July.

Now, in a statement to IQ, Exit Festival have said that the numbers for this year’s rescheduled August event would need to be dramatically slashed as a result of rising COVID-19 cases in the country.

“We want to be extra cautious as the health of our audience, artists and all festival staff is our top priority,” the Exit team told IQ. “Therefore, we will be further reducing the maximum number of attendees in coordination with officials, probably [by] even more than 90%. We continue to monitor the situation, consult closely with the health and government officials, and we hope to have more news on this matter next week.”

Last month, Exit confirmed the likes of Black Coffee, VTSS, Paul Kalkbrenner, Roni Size, who headlined the festival 20 years ago, and LTJ Bukem for this year’s event. Glaswegian stalwart Denis Sulta is also slated to perform at the festival, as well as DJ Tennis, Tale of Us, Marcel Dettmann, and VTSS b2b SPFDJ. Exit organisers told IQ that live streams of artists could be provided for those unable to attend Exit 2020.

Festivals around the world have had to be cancelled or postponed due the COVID-19 pandemic, along with countless club closures and tour cancellations. While the pandemic has led to several festivals moving into the world of live-streaming, or even the virtual world, some reports suggest that the festival industry is under threat of total collapse.