MOGA Festival 2026 Last-Minute Guide: Essaouira, Morocco, Opens 30 September With Saturday Day Passes Sold Out

Festivals: Morocco

This MOGA Festival 2026 last-minute guide covers what has changed since the line-up was announced. It sets out the final bill for each night and which passes remain. It also explains how to reach the site in Diabat and what the forecast shows.

Essaouira’s wide Atlantic beach, which runs south towards Diabat and the MOGA festival site (Photo: Patrick Nouhailler, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons)

MOGA Festival marks ten years with its 2026 edition in Essaouira, Morocco, which opens on Wednesday 30 September. Two free days in the town come first, then the ticketed festival runs from Friday 2 to Sunday 4 October.

MOGA Festival 2026 Last-Minute Guide: What Has Changed

Essaouira is a walled port on Morocco’s Atlantic coast, between Marrakech and Agadir. MOGA is a boutique house and techno festival there. It is a separate event from the Gnaoua World Music Festival, which the city hosts each June.

Our first preview of MOGA Festival, published on 15 September, set out the headliners. Since then the festival has fixed the full bill for each night and published its free programme hour by hour.

The ticket picture has also moved. Some passes are gone, hotel rooms at the festival site are sold out, and a forecast now covers every festival day.

The Final Line-Up, Night by Night

The festival’s line-up page lists 71 names across three nights. Each night uses one venue with four stages, and the gates open at 4 p.m. and close at 4 a.m. Morocco time (GMT+1).

Friday 2 October is led by Jamie Jones, the British house DJ. Richy Ahmed and the Romanian DJ Rhadoo also play Friday. Hamadeus, Jakaw, Piticu, Othman Kabbadj and Jilali are on the same bill.

Saturday 3 October is headlined by The Martinez Brothers, a house duo from New York. Sonja Moonear and Silvie Loto also play, and Fantastic Man shares a back-to-back set with Tornado Wallace.

Sunday 4 October closes with ANOTR, a Dutch duo. Bradley Zero, Viken Arman, Fort Romeau, Kalabrese, Cesar Merveille, Enrica Falqui and Amine K complete the upper part of the bill.

Tickets Still on Sale in Dirhams and Dollars

MOGA sells tickets in Moroccan dirhams through Tidar and in euros through Shotgun. The dollar figures here use 9.648 dirhams to the US dollar, the rate on 28 September 2026.

On the afternoon of 29 September, Tidar showed the Saturday day pass and the Saturday Before 5PM pass as sold out. Saturday is still open through two-day, three-day and VIP passes.

A three-day pass costs 2,000 dirhams (about US$207). A two-day pass for Friday and Saturday, or Saturday and Sunday, costs 1,700 dirhams (about US$176).

Single-day passes for Friday or Sunday cost 900 dirhams (about US$93), and fewer than 60 remained for each day. A Before 5PM pass for either day costs 750 dirhams (about US$78) and requires entry before 5 p.m.

VIP day passes cost 2,000 dirhams (about US$207), and a three-day VIP pass 5,000 dirhams (about US$518). Group passes for four to six people are also listed. Tidar’s listing shows a 9% service fee added on top of these prices.

MOGA OFF: Two Free Days in the Town

MOGA OFF is open to everyone and needs no ticket. The weekly magazine TelQuel counted 51 events. They include two concerts at the Sqala, the old sea-wall fortress of the medina, or walled old town.

The opening concert at the Sqala runs from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. on Wednesday, with a second on Thursday. Both are free, but the festival asks people to register in advance through its programme page.

Daytime sessions include yoga at the Bab Marrakech tower, surf lessons and a Gnaoua music brunch. A workshop covers the guembri, the three-string bass lute of Gnaoua music. In the evenings, bars and clubs across the town host DJ parties until the early hours.

Getting to Essaouira and to the Site

Essaouira airport lies about 15 km from the town. The festival lists direct flights there from Paris, Marseille and London. Marrakech airport, about two hours away by road, has flights from most major European cities, and Agadir is another option.

Supratours coaches run from Marrakech to Essaouira in about three hours, including a short stop. A local travel guide updated on 24 September lists a fare of 140 dirhams (about US$15) and seven departures a day.

The festival site sits in Diabat, a village just south of Essaouira. It is part of Domaine Mogador, a resort zone. A consortium led by Samih Sawiris is rebuilding the zone with €200 million (about US$227 million).

The festival runs no shuttle between the town and the site, but it says plenty of taxis will be available. Free parking in front of the venue is limited. Hotel rooms at the site are sold out, so most visitors will stay in town.

The festival’s booking partner offers packages with riads, traditional houses built around a courtyard, and coastal hotels. Visitors who book elsewhere should allow for a taxi ride each way.

Weather, Hours and House Rules

The forecast issued on 29 September shows no rain from Wednesday to Sunday. Daytime highs sit around 24 to 25 °C until Saturday and reach about 29 °C on Sunday.

Nights stay mild, at around 20 to 21 °C at midnight. Thursday 1 October looks the windiest day, with gusts of up to about 56 km/h (35 mph). That is worth noting for the outdoor Sqala concert.

Once inside the festival site there is no re-entry. Outside food and drink, bottles, cans, glass, professional cameras, selfie sticks and umbrellas are not allowed. A cloakroom at the entrance charges 20 dirhams (about US$2) per item.

Tickets are non-refundable. Children from six years old may attend with an adult, and those up to 12 go free.

What Is Not Yet Known

The festival has not published set times or stage assignments for individual artists. Its website lists names by day only, so visitors should watch the festival’s social media channels for times.

Ticket numbers change by the hour, and it is unclear whether any tickets will be sold at the gate. Parts of the festival’s online FAQ on payments also describe the Portuguese edition. The on-site payment system is best confirmed on arrival.

MOGA began in 2016, and 2026 marks ten years since then and its seventh Essaouira edition. Whatever happens with the last tickets, the town itself stays open, and most of its programme costs nothing.

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