Dance the night away at Belgrade’s controversial new musical fountain

Serbian social media is awash with water feature-related jokes in the wake of the opening of a mammoth 1.8 million euro ($2.03 million) fountain on Belgrade’s Slavija roundabout.

Described as “the biggest fountain in south-east Europe” on the city government’s website, the huge fountain is 32m in diameter and is made up of 350 water jets.

“[...] this will be one of Belgrade’s attractions. This is something for which people will come to our city [...],” city manager Goran Vesić said when officials turned on the fountain at a rehearsal last night, adding that a special commission of “music experts” is currently deciding on the fountain’s playlist.

Many Belgrade residents took to social media to express anger at the huge spend or to mock the fountain.

“Fountain [to be] the [Serbian] representative at Eurovision,” joked one Twitter user, with another suggesting that the fountain makes up for the lack of air conditioning on Belgrade buses, as drivers can make additional stops by the fountain for passengers to freshen up en-route.

Beyond Facebook and Twitter fun, anti-government group Against the Dictatorship plans to stage a demonstration at the fountain on 10 June. Alternatively, if you’re in Belgrade on 1 July, be sure to stop by the rave scheduled to take place at the fountain.

Source: Balkan Insight