The Exit Festival, one of Europe's major music festivals, will be celebrating its tenth anniversary this year. The milieu of Petrovaradin Castle, built by Austrian military engineers in the 18th century on a hill overlooking the city of Novi Sad and Danube river, is definitely a major part of the popular festival's appeal.

Another factor that contributes to the festival's popularity is the fact that ticket prices are almost half the price of tickets for other European festivals such as the Glastonbury and Isle of Wight festivals in Great Britain.

Exit festival offers a rich selection of rock, pop, electronic, techno, world and other music, performed on 25 stages by some of the world's best-known artists. It's no surprise then that the festival attracts over 150,000 visitors each year. One third are foreigners, mostly from Great Britain, the country that in 2007 awarded Exit the title of "Best European Festival". The festival owes a lot of its popularity to coverage by MTV, CNN, the BBC, Observer and the New Musical Express (NME).

Since its beginnings in 2000 as a grassroots festival started by three Novi Sad university students, who continue to run the event to this day, Exit has gone a long way. What started out as a manifestation of underground social and political dissent, slowly turned into a hugely popular commercial festival and a national symbol.

The first Exit Festival, or its rebellious "zero edition", lasted 100 days and was conceived as a window to Serbia's future: a way to show young people that a future without war and isolation could be possible. The purpose of the festival was to awaken young people to their possibilities, to involve them in politics and get them to vote in the presidential elections that were approaching. The festival took place in a carnival-like setting on the streets of Novi Sad, with numerous parties and concerts. It attracted approximately 20,000 people from across Serbia and closed two days before the elections under the political slogan: "It's over." Two weeks later, this prediction became true for the then autocratic ruler, President Slobodan Milosevic.

In 2001, Exit festival moved from the streets of Novi Sad to Petrovaradin Castle, and non-government organizations and businesses became involved in the festival's organization. Slowly, the political aspect of Exit gave way to business as the festival grew more commercial with tickets, big sponsors, big budgets and international music stars.

In the beginning, the festival hosted domestic rock bands and international DJs like Bob Sinclair, Tony Allen and David Morales. Gradually, artists from the former Yugoslavia region were included and, in 2003, the festival started hosting some of the world's most popular bands.

The list of performers included among others Tricky, Moloko, Stereo MC's, Iggy and the Stooges, The White Stripes, Massive Attack, Asian Dub Foundation, Peaches, Cypress Hill, Apocalyptica, Garbage and Ian Brown. Meanwhile, the number of foreign visitors rose to 150,000 people due to coverage by international media.

The year 2006 was a landmark in the development of the festival: it boasted a concert program with 22 stages and over 600 performers, including Billy Idol, Pet Shop Boys, Morrissey, Franz Ferdinand, The Cult, The Cardigans, and David Guetta. The festival was opened by EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn, who spoke of the importance of visa facilitation for people from the Western Balkans.

At the end of 2007, Exit festival received its first major acknowledgment at the UK Festival Awards: it was declared the Best European Festival. The award was issued in association with Yourope -- an association gathering 40 of Europe's biggest music festivals.

In 2009, the mains stars include: Moby, Patti Smith, Lilly Allen, Madness, The Prodigy, Arctic Monkeys, Manic Street Preachers, Kraftwerk, Korn, Eric Prydz, CHase & Status and many others.