Make some noise for the best festivals in Morocco

Morocco is a blooming destination for electronic music, with a growing number of quality festivals showcasing local and international talent there’s a spotlight on the region. We teamed up with Resident Advisor on a list of 5 of the best morocco music festivals.

Best Morocco Music Festivals

1. Atlas Electronic Festival

Atlas Electronic is the ideal gateway festival between Africa and the global electronic music community. The event, which encompasses music, visual art, traditional crafts and wellness, strives for connectivity in the “broadest sense of the word.” It unfolds across four days at the breathtaking Villa Janna, a mini utopia located in the desert on the arid outskirts of Marrakech. You can camp onsite, or live handsomely in one of the many neighbouring riads. The programme features a mix of popular African artists and traditional gnawa groups from the region, as well as international selectors like John Talabot and Lena Willikens.

2. Oasis Festival

Since launching a few years back, Oasis has helped establish Marrakech as an electronic music destination with the potential to rival established festival hotspots like Croatia. Its home this year is Fellah Hotel, a classy, cactus-lined resort on the outskirts of Marrakech that boasts a stunning view of the Atlas Mountains. One of the festival’s stages looks out onto a swimming pool, which means you can listen to big-name house, disco and techno artists, many of whom are playing in Morocco for the first time, while floating lazily on an inflatable swan.

Location: Fella Hotel, Route de l’Ourika, Marrakech

3. Rak Electronic

Rak Electronic is one of Morocco’s pioneering dance music promoters. With its unofficial motto of “No standing, only dancing,” Rak, overseen by Diego Lasou Ugarte and Nabil Hamdaoui, has firmly taken root in Marrakech, using different spots—including poolside venues like Fellah Hotel and Jnan Lotf, the boutique Cesar Hôtel and even a village located high in the Atlas Mountains—with a mix of local DJs and out-of-town guests playing groovy strains of techno, tech house and minimal.

Location: Various locations, Marrakech

4. Moga Festival

Moga festival takes place in Essaouira, a UNESCO world heritage city on the Atlantic coast that you might recognise as a backdrop to the hit TV series Game Of Thrones. In addition to events in the city and its medina, the festival says it will also make use of Essaouira’s beaches and a nearby forest for this year’s event. The setting is a blissful one by the sea, with grand old architecture, hot sun and amazing local cuisine, culture and colour.

Location: Various locations, Essaouira

Image courtesy of Moga Festival

5. Innervisions Marrakech

Dixon and Âme’s world-conquering party brand Dixon and Âme’s world-conquering party brand headed to Morocco for the first time this summer. Anyone who’s been to an Innervisions event will know what to expect: an all-star cast of DJs and live acts from Innervisions’ roster providing soaring melodies, steady grooves and bucketfulls of dance floor emotion. For Innervisions, the location is just as important as the music, and this is no exception: they’ve picked Villa Janna, the eco-friendly lodge near Marrakech that’s home to Atlas Electronic Music & Arts Festival.

Location: Villa Janna