The music has to make you feel like you’re part of something bigger — like you belong.
Larry Levan
The Wild Ones is a social enterprise with a mission: Cultivating Creativity, Inspiring Change. We stand for dreamers and doers, supporting emerging talent while showcasing established collectives. Our vision is to grow into Kampala’s true home of electronic music — a space alive with creativity, connection, and the best sound system in Kampala!
We’re building a place where artists can just show up with their music, and where audiences can trust that every night will deliver energy, quality, and vibe. One day, we aim to be running nights every single evening of the week.
On 7th Street in Kampala’s Industrial Area, we are also carrying forward a legacy. This location has already played a defining role in the city’s electronic music story — Through Embers , and later through the iconic nights at Wild Coffee Bar. Many still remember the buzz of those evenings: the sound, the togetherness, the courtyard alive with energy.
Now, The Wild Ones is proud to pick up that baton and continue the story — building the next chapter for Kampala’s nightlife.
Over the past weeks, we’ve been getting more and more inquiries from DJs and collectives who want to host events at The Wild Ones. That’s why we’ve put this blog / guide together — to explain how our nights work, what information we need from you, and how we can build amazing events together.
Two Stages, One Vision
Every great party is more than sound and lights — it’s a community coming alive. At The Wild Ones, we’re not just throwing nights, we’re building a movement.
Marcus Warry (Founder & Director of The Wild Ones)
We are building The Wild Ones as a two-stage venue where each space has its own energy but works together as part of one bigger night.
- The Loft → Our dedicated home for electronic music. This is where underground collectives and DJs can push sounds, experiment, and create that intimate high-energy connection with the crowd.
- The Rooftop Bar + Café → Typically hosting more mainstream or eclectic vibes — giving space for different genres and audiences, while still being connected to the Loft through sound and atmosphere.
We see this as cross-fertilisation: introducing new audiences to electronic music, while also making sure our nights pull the big numbers we need as a social enterprise, to reach a sustainable point. It’s not about dividing “underground” and “mainstream” — it’s about building bridges, growing audiences, and creating nights where more people can experience something new.
When we agree your night, we’ll set out clearly in the MOU:
- Which space you’ll be playing in.
- What’s happening in the other stages that evening.
- How the two spaces will complement each other.
- Large and established collectives may get to curate and fill the whole place
This way, everyone is clear, the programming works together, and we can grow the vibe and the audience as one movement.
Music is life. That’s why our hearts have beats.
Carl Cox
Future Plans
As we grow, the vision gets bigger:
- We’ll bring back the legendary Courtyard (capacity ~1,000), reviving the unforgettable buzz many still remember from the Wild Coffee Bar days.
- At that point, The Wild Ones may become a three-stage venue (Loft + Rooftop/Café + Courtyard) — capable of hosting large-scale multi-room nights and Kampala’s own mini-festival experiences. The Wild Ones 24 hour urban festival – coming soon!
Why Book Early?
After a succesful run of night with Nyege Nyege, our diary is starting to fill up. We recommend getting your event in at least a month in advance, so that we can:
- Align marketing across Instagram, TikTok, WhatsApp communities, broadcast lists, and our membership database.
- Build anticipation with layered content drops and buzz.
- Lock in your preferred dates before they’re gone.
Check availability here:
👉 www.thewildones.club/upcoming-events
How Nights Are Programmed
We structure programming to balance experimental nights with proven crowd-pullers:
- Fridays → emerging collectives & experimental sounds.
- Saturdays → established crews & big nights.
- Mid-week slots → Thursdays and others for smaller-scale or niche and more experimental events.
- Wednesdays: Open Decks (coming soon) → a free platform for DJs to meet, learn, and test our system before running a full night.
What We’ll Need From You
When pitching your event, please share:
- Previous experience → events you’ve run, where, how many people, ticket sales.
- Event concept → DJs, genres, collective, vibe.
- Your audience → who you’ll bring, how you’ll promote.
- Social handles / press / promo / media pack?
- Links to mixes / tracks
Clubbing is not just about music. It’s about people coming together, sharing moments, and feeling human.
Laurent Garnier
A Plug-and-Play Venue
We’ve invested a lot of resources and energy to make The Wild Ones plug-and-play — so DJs can focus on music, not logistics.
The Loft includes:
- 3x tops, 3x subs, monitor speakers
- 16 channel bluetooth mixer
- DMX light controller with a growing range of lights (operated from the Loft or Rooftop Bar)
- Smoke machine available
- Projector & screen for visuals
- In some cases, we can also provide Pioneer 800 decks
The Rooftop Bar includes:
- Multiple tops
- 4x subs
DJ-Friendly by Design
Too often in Kampala, DJs have to arrive hours early with additional speakers, incurring transport costs and hassle. We’re building the opposite: a venue where everything is ready, tested, and tuned — so DJs can just turn up with their music and plug and play!
Sound Engineering Support
Our in-house sound guy, Mr. Shots, ensures everything is working perfectly. Sound checks ideally happen the day before, and he’ll be on hand during the night.
Investing in the Best
We’ve recently hosted Nyege Nyege, who were impressed with the quality of our sound. That gives us a strong foundation — but our mission doesn’t stop there. We’re on a journey to create the best sound system in Kampala.
And we’re not done — we’re always open to hearing from DJs about how we can improve the setup further. So we’d love to work with you, and invite you to be part of this journey with us too.
Agreements & Partnership Models
Once a date is confirmed, we set up a basic MOU so both sides are clear on roles and expectations.
We can work with partners in different ways, including these ideas or in some instances a combination of them…
- Venue hire → pay for the venue, run the night your way.
- Ticket-led nights → venue free, you keep ticket sales. Or ticket income can also be shared…
- Bar-share agreements → split an agreed % of the bar sales.
- Wild Ones Guest-list → As part of the agreement we need to secure a certain number of tickets (50 to 100) to offer a Wild Ones Guest-list – this helps to give us confidence that we can also drive numbers to the venue as well, using our direct channels
- Guaranteed ticket blocks → In some instances The Wild Ones may buy a set number of tickets at a reduced rate to use our guest list, also ensuring stronger numbers, and a stronger vibe.
- Ticketing platforms → Different platforms work in different ways, and have certain advantages and disadvantages. We can discuss and agree on the best way forward, and how manages the tickets sales and collection at the door.
Our aim is simple: to create amazing nights with great crowds. By balancing commercial nights with experimental ones, we sustain the venue while giving space to the underground.
The above list isn’t definitive, and we are open to a combination of the above, or a variety other ideas to ensure the night works well for both parties!
How We Work With You
We want every event at The Wild Ones to run smoothly, feel professional, and exceed expectations. To make sure that happens, we’ve built a clear process:
- WhatsApp group setup → Once your night is confirmed, we create a dedicated WhatsApp group with you, your team, and our staff. This keeps communication open, fast, and transparent so everyone stays aligned in the run-up to the event.
- Planning meeting → We’ll sit down together to agree on setup, logistics, and any specific requirements for your night.
- Marketing coordination → Through the WhatsApp group we’ll share artwork, social media handles, and promotional activities, so your marketing and ours are joined up and effective.
- Advance preparation → Our staff will prepare the venue according to the plan, so everything is ready on time. Ideally, sound checks happen the day before, meaning that on the night you can just focus on playing and connecting with the crowd.
- On-the-night support → Our in-house sound engineer and team will be present to make sure everything runs as agreed, troubleshoot if needed, and keep things smooth.
- This way, nothing is left to chance. Everyone knows what to expect, the promotion is aligned, the setup is ready in advance, and you can trust that your night at The Wild Ones will feel well-organised, professional, and high-energy from start to finish.
The beautiful thing about dance music is that it brings people together who would never normally meet.
David Guetta
Be Part of the Movement
The Wild Ones isn’t just a venue — it’s a movement. From 150-cap Loft nights to 1,000-strong Courtyard parties, we’re building a space where Kampala’s electronic music culture can grow week by week, year by year.
We invite you to be part of this journey — to showcase your talent, inspire the scene, and help write the next chapter in Kampala’s nightlife.
Ready to pitch your event?
- Check available dates: www.thewildones.club/upcoming-events
Message Marcus directly on WhatsApp: +256790804971