At the eighth edition of Oasis – and final in its current, three-day format – attendees celebrated its legacy as both a champion of regional talent, and a festival that brought electronic music’s biggest names to Morocco
We’re sat in the spa on the last day of Oasis’ 2024 edition, as Moroccan DJ Moon.Wav warms up the main stage outside with a mix of melodic house and throbbing basslines. The festival’s founder, Marjana Jaidi, is filling me in on her plans for the future of the festival – notably, that it won’t be returning next year, in order to make way for something bigger.
Since 2015, Oasis Festival has drawn global audiences with its distinctive combination of progressive electronic music and Moroccan culture, becoming a mainstay in North Africa’s festival circuit. After a few years on the road, from 2022’s venture to southern Morocco’s Dakhla to last year’s expedition to the base of the Atlas Mountains in Ourzazate, Oasis is back at home in Marrakech – well, just outside of the city centre – in the tranquil gardens of The Source Hotel.
© Eddy Hubble
© Khris Cowley
The weekend has seen a stellar line-up of artists including former Crack Magazine cover star Joy Orbison, Moroccan electronic music ambassador Amine K, synthpop band Hot Chip and London-based DJ Jyoty, alongside Yu Su, Sama’ Abdulhadi, Interplanetary Criminal, Paurro and Blck Mamba. The stacked programme is typical – whilst there are now a plethora of music festivals in Marrakech, it is Oasis that has been instrumental in bringing some of the world’s biggest names in electronic music to Morocco, simultaneously amplifying and nurturing regional talent too.
For Friday’s opening party, it was just the Oasis stage in action, with its decks nestled into a jungle-like cave of monstera plants and rattan pendant lights. Nooriyah got the crowd moving with a mix of nostalgic 90s pop and music from across the South-West Asian and North African region, before Yu Su took to the decks for a genre-hopping set that focused on warming, textural sounds. The night ended a little closer to home for me, with Manchester-based UKG sensation Interplanetary Criminal closing the stage for a two-hour set of suave and bumpy garage cuts, fresh from his collaborators in Melbourne.
© Eddy Hubble
© Khris Cowley
© Eddy Hubble
On Saturday the site evolved with the introduction of the Pool Stage, dedicated to Moroccan DJs, and the Arena stage, which was designed in collaboration with Moroccan visual artist Hassan Hajjaj – who had adorned the amphitheatre with traditional woven carpets.
As the programme expanded throughout the weekend, the festival’s intimate feel remained – at only 2000 capacity, Oasis’ size is indicative of programmers that care deeply about the audience’s experience. After all, the main stage itself could hold around 4000 people alone. Meandering around the site, along the rosemary-lined winding paths, past a cosy shisha lounge and herbal tea stations, feels like a refreshing alternative to a sea of oversold music events where crowds are pushed around one-way systems like cattle.
© Vlad Solovov
© Khris Cowley
Such foresight paid off on Saturday, with a highly competitive timetable that made having an easy-to-navigate site even more vital. We christened the night with DJ trio Sodfa, who played an uplifting fusion of afro-house and disco funk. The trio, known also as Qaboo, Kiki.Fq and Candle, were clearly longtime friends as well as collaborators, and their infectious, high–energy spirit left a lasting impact on the crowd. As they handed over to Mexico City’s Paurro, we fell back into the embrace of UK garage, with a distinct sprinkling of 90s house cuts. Palestinian DJ Sama’ Abdulhadi was the highlight of Saturday’s line-up, gracing the Oasis stage wearing the flag of her homeland as she delivered a set of high-octane, full-bodied techno to a pulsing crowd into the early hours of the morning.
The temperature fell slightly on Sunday, paving the way for Jyoty & Friends’ takeover of the Arena stage, which was destined to be a sweaty affair. For her third time at Oasis, the selector curated a whole stage, which featured purveyor of Middle Eastern hip-hop DJ Sotusura, Belgian producer Blck Mamba, hardstyle DJ Toccororo and the amapiano sounds of DJ Wes Lee. Jyoty took to the mic to introduce her friends, as well as share stories of her previous years at the festival, clearly holding genuine love for the yearly event. If it truly is the last dance for Oasis festival, it happened at the Arena stage.
© Khris Cowley
© Khris Cowley
For an event with such a loyal following, amongst both revellers and talent, as a first timer it seems a shame to not be able to do this again next year. But Oasis’ founder Marjana Jaidi realised that, post-Covid, “the three-day festival format is becoming limiting.” Jaidi had always intended on using music as a way to share the culture of Morocco, and her plans post-Oasis are even brighter.
“In Morocco there’s a place for big superstars and there’s a place for baby bands, but there’s not really a space for mid-sized bands. I’m not really seeing as much of that as I would like,” Jaidi says. Her hopes, instead, are to create a permanent venue sewed into the fabric of Morocco, that will encourage diversity in the kinds of events she creates – “it could be rap, it could be rock” – as well as address the new economical needs of travellers and locals. “People have different needs and spending habits than they did 10 years ago,” she explains. “I think it’s important to address that and think about that.” With Marrakech’s versatility, home to both high end boutique hotels and riads fit for backpackers, the Oasis founder aims to create a consistent venue that people can drop into year round – continuing her legacy of bringing big name electronic music artists to Morocco as well as cultivating larger scale art and cultural experiences.
Cultivora, she hopes, will open in 2026 – but, sensibly, Jaidi isn’t keen on making any real promises yet. For now, her pop-up last year with visual artist Hassan Hajjaj in the Atlas Mountains, where he debuted a new art collection for just three days, alongside this year’s edition of Oasis, stand as a taster of what’s to come.
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