Some festivals are about getting from one big set to the next. MOGA is about seeing where the day takes you. For its 10th anniversary, MOGA Essaouira returned to the city where it all started, with MOGA IN running from October 2 to 4 at Hôtel Le Golf d’Essaouira & Spa. Three days, four stages and a lineup of more than 60 artists turned the venue into a constantly moving world of house, techno, melodic sounds and Moroccan electronic music
This year's edition felt bigger, with a more imposing main stage, multiple spaces to explore and plenty of smaller, harder-to-find corners across the festival site.
The lineup moved from Jamie Jones on Friday to The Martinez Brothers on Saturday and ANOTR closing things out on Sunday, alongside names including Rhadoo, Richy Ahmed, Sonja Moonear, Silvie Loto, Bradley Zero, Viken Arman, Amine K and many more.
But the beauty of MOGA was never just about following the biggest names. With several stages running simultaneously, some of the best moments came from simply walking around, discovering a new set and staying there longer than planned.
Saturday Sold OutThe anniversary edition also showed just how much MOGA has grown.
Saturday was sold out, according to MOGA co-founder Matthieu Corosine, while the festival's 2025 edition welcomed 15,000 participants overall, including MOGA IN and MOGA OFF.
A final attendance figure for the 2026 edition has not yet been officially released.
From the Festival to the CityAnd then there was MOGA OFF.
Before and around the main festival, Essaouira itself became part of the experience, with music, workshops, surf, yoga, food and cultural activities spread across the city.
That connection between MOGA and Essaouira remains one of the festival's biggest strengths. You could spend the afternoon discovering the medina, find an unexpected DJ set, head back to the festival and continue until late into the night.
Ten Years InAfter a decade, MOGA has clearly grown in scale, but it hasn't lost its biggest strength: the feeling of discovery.
You could arrive for one artist and leave talking about another. You could follow the schedule or completely ignore it. You could stay at the main stage or disappear into one of the festival's hidden corners.
For three days, Essaouira was moving to its own soundtrack.
Ten years later, that's still very much the MOGA experience.
