Novi Sad Jazz Festival Hit by Power Outage Amid Organizational Disputes

The first evening of the Novi Sad Jazz Festival was marred by a power outage that plunged parts of the city center into darkness, impacting both the musical performances and the daily lives of residents. The Citizen Movement Bravo has voiced strong criticism, alleging that this year's organizational changes have led to numerous problems and a departure from the festival's established concept. They point to infrastructure issues, suggesting that activating all festival elements simultaneously in the old city center, with its likely questionable installations, inevitably led to a "collapse."

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We are aware that we live in the center and that as residents we should endure, but there are certain measures – the cables were everywhere, we had to move chairs to get into the building.

Milana Milovanović, spokesperson for the EPK Foundation, countered these claims, stating that all arrangements were made with prior city consent. She explained that EPS provided the necessary connections, and everything was in order until the first evening's malfunction. The foundation attributes the changes to visitor feedback from a survey, which indicated a desire for an outdoor format during the summer. Milovanović emphasized that the Cultural Center's capacities were utilized as much as possible, and the decision was made by the Cultural Center itself.

However, Ksenija Čobanović of the Citizen Movement Bravo argues that the Cultural Center is merely a nominal organizer. She asserts that the team that has nurtured the festival for years, including many external collaborators, has been excluded from the process. "The Cultural Center is only on paper the organizer of this festival, but no one from the team that was large, because there were many external collaborators, is involved except us who are employees. Absolutely, we have no authority and nothing to do with the festival," Čobanović stated.

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EPS provided the necessary connections, and everything was in order until the first evening's malfunction, so we still don't know how the fault occurred and why.

Residents also expressed frustration with the situation. One citizen reported that power outages occurred three times on Friday, disrupting the festival and causing inconvenience. "We are aware that we live in the center and that as residents we should endure, but there are certain measures – the cables were everywhere, we had to move chairs to get into the building," the resident said, questioning the planning of the sound and lighting systems.

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When you turn all that on, put it into operation at the same moment, in the old city center where the installations are, I assume, in questionable condition, it is quite logical that a collapse occurs.

The Electrical Distribution of Serbia (EPS) attributed the outage to a double fault on medium-voltage lines, which left a section of the city center without power, including areas where festival stages were set up. While EPS provided an explanation for the power loss, the organizers are still awaiting detailed information on the cause of the malfunction.

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The Cultural Center is only on paper the organizer of this festival, but no one from the team that was large, because there were many external collaborators, is involved except us who are employees. Absolutely, we have no authority and nothing to do with the festival.