The Republic Square

The celebration of the Orthodox New Year started at the Republic Square at nine o'clock with an hour of music played through a stunning 85kW loud speaker. The students had organized the celebration on the central city square for all citizens, not only the students. A video-beam presented the visual support messages from Vanessa Redgrave, Emir Kusturica and the Prodigy, among others. At ten o'clock a choir concerts took place, and the gathered people were addressed by a group of famous actors (who were present at the student demonstrations two days ago) at eleven. The surprise of the evening was the mini-concert by the famous chansonier Djordje Balasevic, who had written a special song for the students over a month ago. The last 15 minutes of the Old Year were given to the percussion section of the student protest, who brought the rhythm to the streets of Belgrade, and at midnight the people counted down the seconds. The leaders of the coalition Zajedno congratulated the citizens on the New Year, and a rock concert started shortly afterwards. Many well-known Yugoslav rock bands played and the mass in front of the band stand. It was estimated that there were 600,000 people present, which is an absolute record of the recent protests.