Saving nomads for millennia from a harsh arid existence, the desert oasis has long been synonymised with sanctuary and survival in even the most extreme conditions. Yet today, these pockets of paradise are becoming recognised as unique spaces that forge creativity out of the environmental contrast. Giving new meaning to these depictions through a music-focused mindset, Oasis Festival is redefining the electronic and techno scene in Morocco, bringing together internationally renowned DJs with luxury hotel complexes and an unbeatable North African culture to create a modern-day music microcosm. Turning surviving into thriving over their weekend of live sets, pool parties, and fine dining, Oasis is taking the festival scene by storm.

Morocco’s Biggest Music Festival

The brainchild of New Yorker Marjana Jaidi, Oasis Festival is a vanguard of electronic, house, and techno music, putting Morocco on the map for avant-garde festival enthusiasts across the world. Featuring a star-studded line-up each year, from Actress & Mount Kimbie, Peggy Gou, Honey Dijon, and Ben UFO to name but a few, the festival was billed as “the first of its kind”, as the traditional Berber landscape became the scene for the ultimate party atmosphere. Attended by a mix of 6000 Moroccans and internationals, Oasis is the ultimate luxury weekender festival that combines art, gastronomy, and of course, DJs, into an eclectic melting pot of music and culture. Set within unbeatable surroundings where the desert really meets the dance floor, Oasis moves each year to bring to life multiple venues across Morocco and allow festival-goers to experience the magic and liminality of life on the edge of aridity.

Describing Oasis as “an extension of my personality and what I like”, founder Marjana has spent the last eight years evolving Morocco’s music scene, curating a diverse and dynamic sonic palette that has put the country on the map. Debuting in 2015 in the capital city of Marrakech, Oasis first took over the sublime Fellah Hotel to introduce guests to the expansive beauty sat just outside of the red city’s medina – a key focus of Marjana who wanted to use the festival to reveal Morocco’s bustling beauty alongside it’s idyllic liminality that is such a core part of its desert identity.

Half-Moroccan herself, Marjana’s choice of Marrakech was a careful consideration of the multi-venue vision she had for her festival, with numerous hotels able to provide both the serenity and the structure for a vibrant and eclectic event. With back-to-back DJing one of the key attributes of Oasis, Marjana and her team have consistently pulled out the stops to put guests first as they travel across Marrakech to find the perfect venues each year.

Inception

With the goals of achieving the perfect intersection of intimacy and expression that any destination festival should aim to achieve, the decision of where should host Oasis is not one taken lightly. The Fellah Hotel, a luxury boutique hotel embedded in the peaceful shadow of the Atlas Mountains, set the tone back in 2015 for Oasis’s future events: 5* amenities, a short drive from the airport, and the city centre less ten minutes away, Fellah is a creative and unconventional space that screams twenty-first century watering hole.

Basking in the ambiance of the Maghreb sun, the hotel provides deep pools, wide windows, swaying palm trees, and cool, tonal rooms that sink into the earthy landscape: you’d be forgiven for thinking the hotel as the perfect slow getaway from an encroaching winter. Yoga, spas, swimming; visits to the local markets replete with street food, vendors, and henna artists; this trip ticks off the all-important cultural and self-care aspects of visiting Marrakech. However, as the sun begins to sink over the horizon, Oasis takes over, bringing a visceral energy as stages across the Fellah complex fill with partiers, ready to take on the night.

Billed in 2015 as “the first event of its kind”, this Berber-inspired accommodation became home to a three-day affair that ran from midday deep into the night. Split between two stages, Desert Oasis and Bamboo Arena, house and disco would boom in the sun from impressive speakers, with guests sipping drinks in the pools or dancing closer to the action. Drawing in larger crowds with the rising moon, the relaxed atmosphere begins to get more lively as internationally-renown DJS started to hit the decks. With the Desert Oasis centred in a pool with a booth on the roof of the adjacent villa, this stage is a hub of enthusiasm and high-quality mixing; for a more lucid experience, Bamboo Arena provides a low-key alternative just a short stroll away. Replete with curated cocktails, local Moroccan cuisine, and chill spaces of ping-pong, pool tables, and blackjack, taking a breather from the dance floor by no means leaves you with little to do.

Hosting the festival in 2018 and again in 2019, Marjana and her team have only expanded on the initial successes that Fellah was home to, with over 60 DJs and the likes of Four Tet, Horsemeat Disco, and Mall Grab cementing Oasis as a world-class affair.

Experimentation

In the interests of intrigue and experiment however, The Source welcomed Oasis in 2016 and 2017 to provide luxury and intimacy to the festival. Situated in the southern suburbs of Marrakech, plush gardens, vibrational spas, and glassy pools framed by spacious sunbeds encourage guests to fully relax and immerse themselves into their surroundings. The view of the Atlas Mountains still in eyeline, The Source has all the natural qualities considered hallmarks of the Oasis experience; yet it is the venue layout and built-in studio that takes the event to the next level. An open-air theatre set before the expansive pool; soundproof rooms with individual playlists; and professional DJ studios accessible by winding paths in bloom, Marjana’s careful selection has allowed Oasis Festival to be synonymised with a beauty and luxury that is unique to these Moroccan suburbs.

Bringing the sound of down under to the main decks that is reflected in the shimmering pool (that is, until the partygoers begin to decorate the water), DJs and musicians such as HAAi and Harvey Sutherland make the stage their own; London-local Thris Tian’s blend of warehouse originals and Boiler Room MCing work magic on the crowd; and deep into the night, Richie Hawtin’s complicated brand precedes Karenn’s commanding live set. Throughout the weekend, back-to-back schedules mean there’s always something going on, and so the mix of Berghain during the night and more peaceful energy in the day encourage guests to enjoy their Oasis Festival weekend in every way possible.

Expansion

With the disruption over the last two years putting a halt on things, Oasis Festival came back stronger than ever in 2022, relocating once more to the city of Dakhla. Inspired to travel within Morocco due to international restrictions, Marjana saw firsthand the variation of her country, and leapt at the chance to take Oasis down a more diverse route.

Relaunching post-pandemic as an offshoot labelled Into the Wild, the team repeat the undefeated formulae of simplicity with style with the Saharan getaway of the Dakhla Club Hotel. Bordered by the blue expanse of the Plage Trouke beach and equipped with the same breathtaking views, luxurious facilities, and epic line-ups as years previous, this unique location where the Sahara meets the sea could not be more appropriate for where pampering meets partying. With Moroccan artists including AMVN, Capra, Wahm and Yasmean taking the stage alongside international names such as Âme, Jyoty, KiNK and Mind Against, festival goers once again are able to dance the night away under the desert stars, enjoy crafted cocktails and curated menus from local chefs, and chill out with the wellbeing programme of yoga, sound healing, and simply relaxing in the pool. For the more adventurous, boat excursions, quad biking, and kitesurfing are not to be missed.

Being hosted for the second year running at Dakhla this coming October, Oasis plans on bringing the best international and homegrown DJs, visionary curators and visual artists, to this mesmerising location once again.

How to RSVP

A testament to the diverse energy found across all corners of the globe, Oasis Festival has created a home for electronic and techno beats in a setting that for many couldn’t be more of a contrast. Yet the lucid days, colourful city trips, and holistic spa-centred afternoons provide a juxtaposition to the emphatic evenings and voltaic nights that allows guests to enjoy the best of both. Redefining electric music through the focus on luxury and intimacy, Oasis has put Morocco on the map for DJs and enthusiasts alike as the only way to round off a summer of partying. With 2023’s line-up being released in March, this is one festival not to miss out on.