The grand finale of the EXIT to Montenegro summer came to a close at sunrise on Bečići Beach, where an incredible 93,000 people passed through the festival gates over three nights. During the final weekend of August, EXIT’s Sea Dance Festival brought together some of today’s most sought-after artists and an audience from more than 100 countries, while the entire EXIT to Montenegro project, including its first chapter in Ulcinj, featured 122 artists from the Montenegrin scene. Thanks to the festival, Budva was buzzing at levels usually associated with the very peak of the tourist season. From techno queen Charlotte de Witte and French chart-topping global hitmaker HUGEL, to one of the most recognisable voices in international music, John Newman, reigning Eurovision winner DARA and masked electronic music hero Boris Brejcha, Sea Dance delivered a star-studded line-up featuring some of the biggest names on today’s global festival circuit. The final morning on the Dance Paradise stage belonged to Mita Gami, whose distinctive psychedelic house sound kept the crowd on the beach until well after 6 AM and the first rays of sunlight. The message Students Are Winning, which strongly marked the Ulcinj chapter as well, was once again prominently displayed as one of the symbols of this year’s EXIT to Montenegro edition.
The final night of Sea Dance belonged to Boris Brejcha, one of the biggest names in electronic music today and an artist who already shares a special history with the EXIT audience. His signature high-tech minimal sound, developed over the years outside conventional genre boundaries, arrived in Bečići for the festival’s grand finale, complete with his iconic Joker mask and a two-hour Main Stage performance.
NEONOEN opened the local programme for the evening, while Amna and Voyage steered the Main Stage towards contemporary regional pop and trap before the electronic section of the night took over. Lanna was first behind the decks, later joining forces with Layla Benitez for a special back-to-back set. Following their B2B performance, Layla continued solo through house, melodic techno, indie dance and dark disco.
Just a few dozen metres away, Dance Paradise took the festival’s final hours in a completely different direction. Nigel set the opening groove, followed by Ma Khe and Mr. Jools, who brought together the experience of Montenegro’s house and tech-house scene. Buba and Lerr then moved into a deeper, more atmospheric club sound, while Proximus and Mips pushed the stage towards a harder rhythm. The closing stretch was handed to Coeus, one of the region’s leading melodic techno names, before the final set of the entire Sea Dance Festival went to psychedelic house master Mita Gami. His entire performance built towards the moment everyone was waiting for: sunrise over Bečići. With Gami behind the decks, Dance Paradise welcomed the first rays of sunlight over the Adriatic and brought the great summer festival story to a spectacular close. At the Homeground stage, the focus remained firmly on Montenegro’s underground scene and a new generation of artists. Raspop and Vukas, winners of the EXIT to Montenegro competition, opened the night, followed by Marko Pajković b2b Double D, Iks Oks b2b FRLNSR, Stanco b2b CHBX and Double Needle b2b Doshljak, before Stamina and Stevan Mandić took over the closing slot. It was a fitting snapshot of what Homeground was created to represent: a meeting point between those who have been building Montenegro’s club scene for years and those only now stepping into its spotlight.
THREE DAYS, FROM HUGEL AND CHARLOTTE TO DARA AND NEWMAN
On the festival’s opening night, HUGEL arrived in the middle of the biggest summer of his career and turned Bečići Beach into one huge open-air dancefloor before the Main Stage moved into a tougher electronic rhythm. Enrico Sangiuliano was given the task of ushering in the new day, while Charlotte de Witte closed the night without ever letting the intensity drop. The crowd refused to leave, and so did she, extending her set beyond its scheduled finish. That same night, Dance Paradise was operating on an entirely different clock. Rhadoo, Raresh and Petre Inspirescu, collectively known as RPR Soundsystem, were given six hours for their minimal and underground marathon.
Saturday brought a different kind of energy, driven by huge choruses. DARA, who spent almost two days enjoying the festival alongside the crowd, eventually stepped onto the same stage in front of them with “Bangaranga”, while John Newman followed with his new hybrid live show, presented in a special performance at Sea Dance Festival. Much of the work was done by the choir in front of the stage, as the crowd took over Newman’s biggest songs from their opening notes. Burak Yeter then shifted the night firmly onto the dancefloor and stayed behind the decks half an hour longer than scheduled. One of the strongest reactions from the local audience came when his set suddenly filled Bečići with a mix of “Montenegro” by Slobodan Kovačević. On Dance Paradise, Marcel Dettmann delivered hard, precise Berlin techno, while BIIA pushed the pace even further with a blend of hard groove, acid, electro and the energy of the 1990s.
100 MONTENEGRIN ARTISTS
International stars dominated the top of the bill, but this year’s Sea Dance also delivered another important number. Exactly 100 Montenegrin artists performed across the three stages in Bečići, from Who See and NEONOEN to bands, producers, rappers and DJs for whom the major festival stage offered access to an entirely new audience. When the performers from the July chapter in Ulcinj were added, EXIT to Montenegro brought together more than 120 musicians from Montenegro this summer. A number of them reached the festival stage through a specially launched open call for local artists and creatives.
BUDVA AS BUSY AS THE PEAK OF THE SEASON
Over three days, 93,000 people passed through the festival site in Bečići, while Sea Dance welcomed visitors from more than 100 countries across six continents. Among the most represented were guests from Germany, the United Kingdom, Türkiye, Italy, Poland, France and countries across the region, as well as long-haul destinations including the United States.
Those numbers were not confined to the festival beach. During the final weekend of August, Budva was operating at levels typically associated with the height of the tourist season, according to indicators from local services. The number of registered visitors, water consumption, the volume of municipal waste and other indicators all pointed to exceptionally high occupancy, with the Budva Tourism Organisation identifying Sea Dance as one of the key reasons behind these results.
FROM THE JULY GAP TO PEAK-SEASON LEVELS AT THE END OF AUGUST
This also completes the wider story of this year’s EXIT to Montenegro project. Its first chapter, held at the beginning of July, brought more than 50,000 people to Velika Plaža in Ulcinj during a period the tourism industry has traditionally recognised as the problematic “July gap”.
The second chapter arrived precisely when the summer season normally begins to slow down, on the final weekend of August. Instead of the usual decline, Budva was as busy as it would be at the peak of the season. That was one of the central ideas behind EXIT to Montenegro from the very beginning: to provide a powerful tourism boost precisely during the two periods when it is needed most, at the beginning of July and at the very end of August.
STUDENTS ARE WINNING, FROM ULCINJ TO BEČIĆI
One message connected both ends of EXIT’s festival summer. The monumental sculpture that became one of the defining symbols of the Ulcinj edition at the beginning of July was also present in Budva, while the message Students Are Winning once again featured prominently at the festival, bringing the story back to EXIT’s roots: youth, rebellion and the freedom from which the festival itself was born.
