MOGA Caparica’s biggest expansion yet was an unrivalled boutique beach experience
MOGA, born in Essaouira, Morocco, was back with its sister edition, MOGA Caparica, which returned for another magical few days from May 29th to June 2nd, 2024. The festival had three stages for the first time and welcomed approximately 25,000 attendees over the 5 days including 17,000 for the events at Praia da Morena, which set a new record but did not take away from the boutique feel that attendee’s have come to expect over the years.
Located just 20 minutes south of Lisbon, it offers a sun-kissed and escapist mix of fun right from the off. You soon slip into holiday mode once you arrive in the gorgeous coastal location and can begin to get stuck in with yoga, surfing all sorts of wellness talks and more thanks to the OFF Program which starts on the first day and with activities in and around Caparica including a free opening party at Palms, a boat party on the Tagus river and a party at the stunning Lorosae beach club plus meditation, art installations, mouthwatering food and much more. What's more, the stages all look great with natural material, organic decor, and a sympathetic feel that suits the region, all while each beat comes nice and loud and clear.
For us, early Day One highlights included the magical sounds of Dixon, the Innervisions boss who layered up ice melody and escapist beats when he played the final set on the Douhhala stage on Friday. Earlier that night over on Hafla we saw Dekmantel Sound Systems show why they are some of the deepest diggers in the game with a set full of lovely tunes from across the spectrum. As the sun set on the beach Portable did his superb live show and tINI shut things down.
Day Two was a whole new world of partying and we checked out some of the local acts and their authentic local sounds and traditional grooves before we enjoyed another fine sunset then took to the Scala stage from some tripped out electronic weirdness from Acid Pauli and a little bit of the colourful soul drenched and loved u sounds of Sassy J over on Hafla before getting down and freaky at some afters that went on until gone 6am.
Sunday we chilled early on and enjoyed the beach then took in some slick tech from To Ricciardi before moving to the Douhhala stage for some lush melodies and classy techno escapism from Agoria. Pachangae Boys then closed this one down with some superb sounds from the house, disco and techno world. It was a great end to the music that left everyone happy.
As if all this wasn't enough, Moga also hosted an OFF Programme for the first time that happened from Wednesday 29th and offered an incredible boat party, three beach venues, six parties, and countless hours of non-stop dancing. It was a great way to kick off what was another essential edition of one of Europe’s most cultured festival experiences.
PG Credit: Ines Machado @insmachado
