In November 2024, a series of mass protests began in Novi Sad following the railway station canopy collapse in the city, which left 15 people dead and two severely injured.

Blockades of educational facilities initially started on 22 November at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts after students were attacked during a silent tribute to the victims of the 1 November incident. After the Faculty of Dramatic Arts, other faculties and high schools soon followed. In addition to other demonstrations, protesters have held the weekly "Stop, Serbia" (Serbian: Застани, Србијо, Zastani, Srbijo) traffic blockades, conducted from 11:52 AM, the time on which the canopy collapsed in Novi Sad, to 12:08 PM, in order to symbolically mark the 15 lives lost in the disaster.

On 1 November 2024, the canopy of the Novi Sad railway station collapsed, killing 15 people and leaving 2 others with non-critical injuries. The collapse shocked the nation, with many questioning the structural integrity and maintenance oversight of public infrastructure. Authorities launched an investigation into the causes of the incident, but public frustration grew due to perceived delays and lack of accountability in the response.^[3]

Early protests primarily took the form of quiet vigils for victims of the collapse.^[4] However, these protests began to morph into larger and angrier demonstrations, with demonstrators accusing police and local authorities of negligence and corruption. Protesters began demanding a transparent investigation into the collapse, and the release of documents related to the incident. The Associated Press suggested that the collapse has also served as a flash point for expressions of dissatisfaction with the Serbian government as a whole.^[4]

Some demonstrations escalated into acts of vandalism, with the Novi Sad City Hall being a primary target.^[5] Red paint was thrown on the city hall entrance and attempts were made to breach the building.^[6][7][8] Law enforcement responded with tear gas and arrests, further inflaming tensions. Protesters suggested that these and other violent demonstrations were the result of government plants seeking to derail the protests.

On 22 November, students and professors of the Faculty of Dramatic Arts gathered in the immediate vicinity of the Faculty to pay homage to the deaths in Novi Sad. The meeting was reported to the authorities, at which both the students and the professors were attacked by an organized group.^[9] Some members of the group were allegedly high-ranking officials of the ruling Serbian Progressive Party.^[9] After the attack on 25 November, the students began an occupation of the faculty in protest. The Faculty of Philosophy in Novi Sad, joined by the Faculty of Philosophy, the Faculty of Philology, the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, and the Faculty of Political Sciences in Belgrade, followed shortly after.^[10]

One November demonstration in Novi Sad drew 20,000 protesters, making it the largest protest in the city in decades.^[11] Demonstrators have held weekly 15-minute traffic blockade protests on Fridays at 11:52 AM, the time of the collapse.^[12] Cars, some of whose occupants are allegedly affiliated with the SNS, have struck protesters during these blockades.^[13][14]

On 1 December, a silent march was held in Novi Sad to commemorate one month since the collapse.^[15]

By early December, Serbian students had begun organizing 24-hour blockades at some school campuses.^[14] By mid-December, more than 50 university campuses (including the three biggest universities of Belgrade, Novi Sad and Niš) and multiple secondary schools had suspended classes due to student protests.^[13]

On 11 December, students demonstrated at the headquarters of the public television station RTS, for their broadcasting of President Aleksandar Vučić's claims that demonstrators are being funded by Western countries who seek to destabilize Serbia.^[16][13][17] The same day, Vučić made concessions including promising that all prosecutorial documents related to the disaster would be publicized, announced that all currently held protesters were released, and pledged to pardon any protesters if they were convicted at trial. While the concessions marked the first time since Vučić's rise to power in 2012 that any concessions were made to protesters, they did not include the protest's calls for his resignation.^[18]

On 13 December, farmers in central Serbia blocked a road with tractors. ^[13]

On 20 December, the silent protest was one minute longer to commemorate one victim from Zagreb school stabbing in Croatia.^[19]

In response to police brutality and alleged paid hooligans that have attacked civilians and protesters, opposition leaders, students, farmers and independent demonstrators organized a large-scale protest on 22 December, at Slavija Square in Belgrade.^[20] The estimated attendance was between 100,000 and 102,000 people, which marks the biggest protest in Belgrade and Serbia by attendance in recorded history.^[21]

On 25 December, people have gathered and brought 1000 letter to the office of the public prosecutor Zagorka Dolovac urging her to "start doing her job". ^[22]

Similar to the 1996-1997 protests, silent protests in Belgrade and Novi Sad were held on New Year's Eve, but this time from 11:52 PM to 00:07 AM. According to some estimations, between 17,000 and 18,000 were in Belgrade, while between 4600 and 6000 were in Novi Sad.^[23]

On 2 January, the 15 minutes of silence were extended to 29: additional 12 for the people killed in 2025 Cetinje shootings in Montenegro on December 31, and two for the victims killed in Arilje on January 1.^[24] The action was repeated on 3 January in Novi Sad at the blokade of the Varadin Bridge and in other cities.^[25]

A common protester slogan has been "corruption kills".^[11] Protest symbols have included red handprints with the caption "your hands are bloody", referring to the authorities and ruling politicians, and bleeding doves, with the dove being one of the symbols of Novi Sad.^[4][26]

Numerous celebrities have supported the protests including actors Tihomir Stanić, Jelena Stupljanin, Gordan Kičić, Nebojša Cile Ilić, Miloš Timotijević, Milena Radulović, Srđan Timarov, Marko Janketić, Slaven Došlo, Katarina Žutić, Svetlana Bojković, Pavle Mensur, Anđela Jovanović, Hana Selimović, Nina Janković, Milan Marić, Predrag Bjelac, Tamara Dragičević and Petar Benčina, rock music artists YU Grupa, Generacija 5, Dušan Kojić "Koja", Rambo Amadeus, Atheist Rap and Goblini, hip hop artist and writer Marčelo, pop and folk singers Seka Aleksić, Sergej Ćetković, Aleksandra Radović, Tijana Dapčević, Ana Kokić, Milan Topalović "Topalko", Lena Kovačević, Sara Jo, Relja Popović, Edita Aradinović, Zorja and Voyage, influencers such as Veseleen, Fitnes Bliznakinje and Milan Maglov and other media personalities such as television hosts Olivera Kovačević and Jovan Memedovič.^{[27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36]}

Since mid-December protests have been held by Serbian diaspora in several cities around the world. Those include Zagreb, Rijeka,^[37] Paris, Brussels, Ljubljana,^[38] Milan, London,^[39] Venice, Budapest,^[40] Vienna,^[41] Berlin,^[42] Munich,^[43] Prague,^[44] Washington DC,^[45], Chicago,^[46] The Hague,^[47] and Skopje.^[48]