EXIT Festival 2010

Raekwon

I was thinking of heading over to Novi Sad, Serbia this July to check out the much hyped EXIT Festival.

Has anyone who has been there over the last few years got any advice like the best place to get tickets, best places to travel to and best accommodation options?

I heard the most popular option was to fly to Budapest and get the train down to Novi Sad but I've also heard that the trains do be absolutely packed and boiling hot and that doesn't exactly excite me. I was thinking maybe Manchester to Belgrade? Or even to fly to Dubrovnik go there via Bosnia?

I was also thinking of staying in a hostel/hotel because the idea of camping in 30°+ with not many facilities doesn't really appeal.

Also is it as cheap as I've heard? €1 for a beer, €20 per night in a hotel, €5 for a taxi, €4 for a meal (pizza etc)?

Last thing, I was actually in Dubrovnik last year for a week in July and I have to say I literally fell in love ever 5 minutes.........the women down that neck of the woods are absolutely unreal and I heard Serbs are even more stunning then Croats

shoutman

Hey man,
I went to Exit fest in 2006 as one of the stops I made while interrailing.

Have to say it was an epic few days, the location is unreal, big ol' castle, tonnes of pretty cool people and good music.

We applied (and got) press passes for the event (one of my mates emailed saying he was with some random student magazine from dublin), they organised accommodation for us (Local hostel type thing, two bunks in a room), sent someone to pick us up at the train station, gave us free tickets, although we had purchased these already and finally gave us press passes that allowed us to take pictures around the front and side of the stage as well as access to a room full of computers etc (not quite access all areas, that was another step up, but we managed to get in there without too much trouble anyway)

The festival itself is really well organised, there is camping on the river which looked really cool, but it gets intensely hot during the day and with most of the acts on during the night I couldn't imagine it being too comfortable sleeping there.

People are pretty cool over there, one or two were a bit weird (childish more then anything) but didn't spot any trouble the whole time I was there and would definitely recommend it.

One thing I would say is to get a good sleep before getting the train to Novi Sad, I didn't get to sleep on the train at all as there were no seats left so was standing up the whole way (Train so packed you couldn't even sit on the floor).

Deffo do it, and apply for the press pass too they are great craic altogether, one night I ended up in Ian Browns dressing room drinking with him while he and his mates were getting high as kites! He took the I had and wore them at oxegen the next day! (typed irish sunglasses into google images and this came up, WTF?)
Also got offered an interview with the Datsuns, didn't have a clue who they were though so legged it (in hindsight that could have been a far better story)

Hope this helps.

Raekwon

Hey shoutman, cheers for that!

I'm liking your idea of getting press passes, my mate works for a radio station so he could probably swing that, I'll get him to shoot off an email and see what they say.

Yeah I heard it's really well organised and any trouble gets snuffed out very quickly by the no-nonsense police that are apparently swarming the place. That's a good thing IMO and one of the reasons why I wanted to try a festival outside of Ireland for a change. I'm not saying there is always trouble at Irish festivals but there are always thousands of skangers at them and add alcohol and thumping tunes into the mix and sometimes it isn't so pretty!

My main issues in regards to the festival are how we going to get to Novi Sad and where will we stay when we do get there. Also it's March now and I haven't even got tickets or accommodation yet (just waiting for one or two guys to get back to me in regards going or not) so hopefully the hotels/hostel don't get snapped up too quickly.

Also is it true that once your the gates open for the festival each day once your in you can't leave or you won't get back in? I read that on another forum but it was from the 2007 EXIT festival so not sure if they still do that now.

Anyway cheers for the input man and hopefully I'll be able to wear my Villa FA Cup 2010 winners jersey with pride at EXIT this year

shoutman

Yea it was like that when I went as well, but tbh once you go in there is no real need to leave. Beer isn't extortionate inside compared to outside (like it is in ireland) there is plenty of decent food places inside and as the gigs are on at night there is no real reason to leave and come back. I never found it a problem anyway.

If memory serves me correctly we did the budapest - novi sad train journey. And couldn't tell you about accommodation but it was dirt cheap from what i remember.

Fox McCloud

Went to exit last year, Didnt fancy the train much either.. what we ended up doing was travelling to dubrovnik and travelling up through croatia that week before the festival, which was pretty cool. You can fly from dublin to zadar with ryanair, thats were we flew back from.

I would suggest flying into zadar, bus to zagreb and then a bus from zagreb as a slower but less hassled way of getting there! buses were nearly full on the way but not quite..
We booked accom with exitconnect.co.uk, price wasnt too bad we were put up in student accomodation it was basic but perfect for what we needed really.

The festival itself was great, get away from the main stage if you want to avoid the british would be oxegen goers.. twas a little scary for prodigy though when your only 5.5", all the serbs are REALLY tall!

Catmologen

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g295380-d586245-Reviews-Hotel_Mediteraneo-Novi_Sad.html

Stayed here last year, it has a/c and theres loads of pubs and places to eat near by. Its only around 20 mins walk to the entrance to the festival. Dont miss the Orthodox Celts if they are playing this year, feickin awesome they were last time.....

Raekwon

Cheers for all the replies so far lads!

Weepsie

looking at this myself, where is the best/cheapest place to fly too? cant afford all that much but the tickets are so cheap and it has royksopp!

shoutman

I'd imagine budapest + a train journey might work out cheapest.

kieran26

myself and ten friends went last year and it was the best festival i've ever been to , much better organised than oxegen less scumbags too the serbians are actually quite nice people, the only problem is alot of posh english people who think everywhere should be england and everyone should speak english! the cheapest way is to fly into budapest and then get a train down the train down isn't so bad but thetrain back to budapest is really overcrowded so might be worth stayin on an extra day at the end! the train is sbout six or seven hours long! if you can handle disconfort for that long i'd say its worth it for the money you will save! food is really cheap drink inside the festival is around 1.50 a beer or around 8euro if you buy six at a time you can get wine too but its muck! renting an apartment or house near the festival is the way to go its cheap enough bout 3o quid a night but the air-con is much needed! i wouldn't plan on sleepin too much, it goes on till 8 in the morning and starts at six in the evening. i will be going again this year

kieran26

shoutman wrote: »

Yea it was like that when I went as well, but tbh once you go in there is no real need to leave. Beer isn't extortionate inside compared to outside (like it is in ireland) there is plenty of decent food places inside and as the gigs are on at night there is no real reason to leave and come back. I never found it a problem anyway.

If memory serves me correctly we did the budapest - novi sad train journey. And couldn't tell you about accommodation but it was dirt cheap from what i remember.

its true you cannot leave but the facilities inside are really good and the food is not really overpriced inside and the barsstay open till 8 in the morning, so no need to leave really

Cetyl Palmitate

I booked my flights to Budapest the other day. 250 total, including all add-ons MOL loves so much. Tue-Tue with Ryanair. Should we be expecting very busy trains on the way down? Would it make any difference pre-ordering a train ticket somewhere or is it a general free-for-all?
What is this I hear about not being able to leave/return? We were thinking of renting some class of apartment for the few days. Getting a couple hours decent sleep at least once can revitalise a failing body - something I'll struggle with in a tent under a baking sun!
One more, I can't seem to get euro prices for the festival tickets. Could someone post up a link for these or do I have to pay ££?
Besides these minor details I can't wait to get there. I'm even looking forward to the trek from Budapest, although I accept that attitude will probably have changed come the return journey!

kieran26

get the train ticket when you arrive in budapest you have to go to the main station think its called kaleti not 100%on this one tho! think it was 22euro rturn for the train the train was busy enough on the way down but it starts off in budapest so if you get there early or book seats you should have a seat for the way down the way back is a different story you won't get a seat for love nor money. its true you can't leave the fesival once you head in for the night but you won't find this too much of a pain as the area is so big and there's so much to see! you can only buy tickets from an english company the link is on the main exit fesival website works out about 105-110 euro hope that helps some

quinntin

here does anyone know what the story with this exit village is? is it worth getting a ticket for?

safesecure.ie

4th year at exit this year, although this years lineup isnt the best, the atmosphere at the festival is second to none.

With regards to travelling - Ive done both the budapest route and the Belgrade route.

If you go via Budapest the train can be a nightmare down, I'd recommend a belgrade Taxi company called GEA Tours, they run 8 seater taxis from the airport and works out about 30quid return.

This year I'm flying over via Luton with Ryanair (19euro) and then from Luton to Belgrade with Wizzair (60euro) and then home via budapest (100euro).

With regards to accomodation, Ive never camped, wouldnt be able to hack the heat but always got the camping ticket, its handy just to have and its good run around the exit village.

I always try to stay in Hotel Park - 5 star hotel and most of the acts stay there - have met quite a few of them over the years floating around the lobby - also nice to have aircon and the joy of room service when you are hanging from being up for 2 days It works out about 50quid a night p/p.

Taxi ride is normally about 100-200 dinars from there to Exit which is 1-2 euro.

Serbs are really friendly and I've been back to Novi Sad when the festival wasnt on for a holiday.

Downsides of the festival: The fact that once you enter you cant leave, the token drink system and finally..... tuborg!! That stuff is muck especially when its 7am and they have no cold beer left!!
Although there is a small little vodka bar thats kinda hidden up beside one of the smaller stages that takes money rather than tokens, always handy when youre full of tuborg!!

Cant recommend this place enough!!!

tAi21

I fu need for an apartment for 10 people full accommodation.call on +381643650815 or emal me on tax201@gmail.com

bydway im glad u like exit from us

Kid V

Thinking about going to this. Anyone know how much it would cost altogether to go including pretty much everything!!??

tAi21

about 25euro per night...tax201@gmail.com

safesecure.ie

Kid V wrote: »

Thinking about going to this. Anyone know how much it would cost altogether to go including pretty much everything!!??

You could do it for less than 300quid if ye camped - at the min its 38 degrees in Novi Sad so wouldnt fancy that option myself - have a hotel booked which Ive stayed in a few times before.

WizzAir have cheap flights from Luton to Belgrade and Ryanair have cheap flights to luton, got my return flight for 100quid using them both, but prices have prob gone up


Heading over on Friday 2nd of July to chill for a few days before it kicks off!!!

fergpie

Kid V wrote: »

Thinking about going to this. Anyone know how much it would cost altogether to go including pretty much everything!!??

Flights €192 return
Ticket €107
Accomadation €35 a night (renting an appartment)

for the rest there's mastercard and laser

davechops

Me and few others are heading over so give me shout if going could meet up for beer at festival ;D

Dave