In the midst of ongoing live event cancellations due to Covid-19 restrictions, Serbia's EXIT Festival has shocked the global music industry by announcing that the 20th anniversary edition of the festival is officially going ahead this summer, from August 13 to 16.

The news follows a recent appeal made by the Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabić, who asked the festival not to cancel, but instead take place later in the summer.

The team behind EXIT Festival have announced that the event will be organised in close cooperation with the National Health Coordination team, and they will follow all health and government guidelines.

One of the measures will see the festival's capacity reduced, and some of the moats and trenches that host around 40 stages and zones will remain closed.

However, several of the iconic spots at the Petrovaradin Fortress, including the Dance Arena, the Main Stage, and No Sleep, are set to make a return.

The ticket sales will restart on June 1 – with more details about the updated lineup expected in the coming days.

"We got so many messages and emails of support from other festival promoters, agents and artists who see EXIT as a sign of a soon revival for the whole event industry," says the festival's founder, Dušan Kovačević. "Exactly 20 years ago, after a decade of isolation and civil wars in the ’90s, we found an exit and embraced it as our name. Now, it’s time to globally exit from this pandemic."