“What is it Major Laurence that attracts you to the desert”. “Its clean” replies Peter O Toole in his epic role as the lead character in David Lean’s British classic, Lawrence Of Arabia, one of the greatest and most influential movies in cinema history. It was shot on the sweeping sands of the Sahara desert, a truly magnificent stage to host a dance music festival. With the snow capped Atlas mountains providing a powerful backdrop to the palm trees and crumbling red medieval city walls of the souk filled city of Marrakech, The Oasis Festival, is set to announce its arrival onto the worlds festival stage and put Morocco on the dance music party map.
Now into its third year and with a distinct Ibiza flavour, the 2017 running of the Oasis Festival will headline the Prince of Pacha, Solomun, for its Opening party on Thursday September 14. The quality of the Oasis line up continues on Friday, as two other Ibiza favourites on the techno scene, Richie Hawtin and Marcel Dettmann headline. Saturday features another Pacha resident in Maceo Plex and a live DJ set by Modeselektor. A back to back set with Jackmaster and Axel Boman followed by an exciting live set from, Nicolas Jarr, brings the curtain down on a very tasty looking weekend of music under the Arabic stars.
Voted as the Worlds Best Travel Destination by TripAdvisor, Marrakech which sits on the edge of the great Sahara desert, was cited by the online travel experts as a “magical place brimming with markets, gardens palaces and mosques”. The 1000 year old city which like Ibiza, is recognised as an UNESCO World Heritage site was also rated by Caxton FX as the cheapest destination for a City Break where a Big Mac will set you back £1.58 and a day travel card just 36p. Both Ryanair and Easyjet fly into the city and hotel room rates start at just €9 per night. The Oasis Festival is part of the blossoming destination festival scene, where dance music can motivate people to travel outside the normal channels.
Last year nearly 10,000 people attended the festival with the majority of the crowd from Morocco (25%), France (22%), UK (20%), Spain (5%) and the USA (4%). With this years stellar line up that crowd is expected to substantially grow and the festival is nearly sold out with less than a month to go. Day tickets prices start at €79 and a four day weekend pass is available for just €199. The Oasis festival will have what most festivals do not, an exotic and elegant feel in a chic location kissing the Sahara desert. “Hand in hand on the edge of the sand, they danced by the light of the moon” poetic words by Edward Lear, setting the scene for September 17.
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