EMERGENCY EXIT will be performed on Thursday, 24 September, as part of La Mercè, Barcelona’s biggest annual festival, taking place from 23 to 27 September 2026. The performance is a co-production by EXIT Foundation (Serbia) and La Fura dels Baus (Spain), in partnership with Boom Festival (Portugal), Sea Star Festival (Croatia), and Buro Nuvo (Netherlands).
Known as the “festival of festivals”, La Mercè is held in honour of Barcelona’s patron saint, Our Lady of Mercy. The city-wide event brings together a range of festivals and cultural programmes, with around 500 activities taking place at different locations across Barcelona.
This year, EMERGENCY EXIT joins the programme as a large-scale stage production combining music, theatre, movement, visual elements and multimedia. The production cannot easily be placed into a single category: there is no fourth wall or distance between the audience and the performers, as visitors themselves become part of an immersive journey through a world in a state of collapse. At the heart of the performance is an environmental message expressed through the project’s call to action: “Peace on Earth, Peace with Earth.”
The music is created by Satori, known for combining contemporary electronic music with ethnic influences, while the performance is shaped by artistic company La Fura dels Baus, pioneers of urban and immersive theatre, also known for their participation in the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. The visual segment was created by Barcelona-based multimedia studio Eyesberg, specialising in video mapping, lasers and interactive installations.
Rather than simply watching the performance from a distance, the audience is placed at the centre of the action, making EMERGENCY EXIT a physical and sensory experience. The project also invites visitors, performers, artists, festival workers, sponsors and volunteers to sign the Manifesto for the Planet’s Salvation, which will continue to evolve throughout the EMERGENCY EXIT project.
