Well I’d say I know my way round the fortress fairly well, what with it being my 8th time at the festival this year.Even so, it still overwhelms me every time - I still get lost in the atmosphere and people, and I always come back with a new perspective on Exit.

I absolutely loved the festival this year. There seemed to be such a friendly crowd, with a real mix of young and old and lots of funny incidents that were really memorable. We stumbled into a new bar I’d never seen before, just off one of the tunnels. It was a real find, and we ended up in there quite a few times. It was great place to be if you fancied drinking something different, as they served cocktails - but G&Ts were enough for me. And I spent a fair bit of time hanging out in some of the art studios (there are a lot of artists that either live there or own studios in the fortress grounds). I was well looked after and I loved chatting with the local Serbs and seeing them so caught up in the festival.

First night is always drum ‘n’ bass night for me, but I was struggling to find it this year so ended up listening to dubstep till 6am at the main stage, which kind of made me feel a bit lost. It was great hanging out though, and pretty funny watching my sister trying to dance in the mosh pit at the front.

Band-wise, I thought Duran Duran were unexpectedly good. I didn’t realise how many tunes I knew and they really did hit the spot. But I spent most of their set dancing in the first aid tent as an Aussie bloke mixed a bit too much Serbian rakija and beer, which is a definite no no.  I have to commend the first aid people, though, they were absolutely fantastic.  My favourite band of the festival was Plan B, but if I hadn’t been feeling so rubbish from the night before they would probably have been even better. 

One of my best nights was spent down at the dance arena till the early hours with some of our customers. I don’t quite know how I made it up and down those stairs, but I was so happy to be there till morning and watch the sun rise…beautiful.  It truly was one of my happiest moments at Exit - and even better for being spent with like-minded people.  The same customers are coming back for 2013, but I’m not sure if it was the impression I made on them or the festival itself that they are coming back for? Haha.

We held our Friday eufest meet up at the Viribus Bar again this year, close to the Reggae Stage, which gives us a chance to hang out with some of our customers and let our hair down a bit. The bar staff really support what we do and always look after us. We gave away a few too many drinks since there was no Dermot about to keep track, but the customers were more than happy.  We all wore our eufest t-shirts with pride, including my Serbian cousin and his girlfriend, who both help with the accommodation side of things for Exit and really do provide an awesome service, personally sourcing the accommodation from all over the city and making sure they get the standard our customers are looking for.

I also met up with Natasha – one of our more eccentric owners - who has an atelier (traditional Serbian style accommodation) actually in the walls of the fortress. She was really happy with the guests that we booked for her this year and took me to her husband’s studio with it's own bar whilst we waited for the next band to play at the Arena.

We were going to camp this year; well I was going to camp, but nobody was up for it as it gets quite hot. So yeah, no camping - but actually this year the weather was perfect and the atmosphere in the campsite is never one to miss so was a bit gutted we never got down there.  But we did have a great house to stay in. Normally every year we stay a 6km drive away from the fortress and up 6 flights of stairs at my cousin’s place, but this year Svetlana’s sister let us stay at her house in Petrovaradin just round the corner from the festival. Did it make life easier? Definitely. It was nice to walk home for a change and experience all the stalls, cafes, bars on the way home. 

Definitely a more relaxed Exit for me this year with a lot of new experiences and plenty of happy shiny people!

Anna-Maria