The energy increases at @ULethWildin’s biggest party as the night continues and headlining act Tres Beaches performs. Photo by Chase Chambers
One Lethbridge group is trying to fill a gap in the community by bringing high-quality party events to Lethbridge students.
The Instagram account @ULethWildin currently has just under 20,000 followers and recently hosted a music festival at Spitz Stadium selling 4,000 tickets.
The event featured local Albertan DJs including Midwest & Cookie, DJ Talon, DJ Dillion and was headlined by Tres Beaches.
A group of friends from Lethbridge had already been anonymously running the account when they became disappointed with the declining party scene in Lethbridge.
Wildin admits that the group runs the account anonymously to maintain the image of the brand and ensure they can expand to other locations.
The group says they run the account and put on the events simply because they want to, not because they are trying to gain more personal attention.
“At the end of the day, it’s not about the clout, it’s just about hosting sick parties.”
This came around the time that Studio Nightclub closed dow .
One of the individuals who runs the account says the group realized they had the unique opportunity to host events and satisfy the wants of students who were also missing Studio Nightclub and looking for things to do.
“We have the platform to bring everyone together and that’s ultimately what we’re trying to do here,” said the anonymous Wildin representative.
They started by hosting events at the Canadian Brewhouse restaurant and sports bar in 2021.
The group first had some pushback from Canadian Brewhouse when Wildin asked to use the space the first time.
“We actually had to beg them to let us host for that first party. [At that time] they only gave us the basement.”
Once they did get permission, @ULethWildin says the community was overwhelmingly supportive.
“For that first event, I think we had like, 800 people show up and the basement capacity is only, maybe 400. So we were completely overwhelmed with that first one like, wow, okay/People really just want to party.”
Since then, the group has been greenlit to host more events on all floors of the Canadian Brewhouse where they continue to sell out the venue.
“We’re getting anywhere between 1,500 and 2,200 people. The venue capacity is around 1,300. So, it will just be cycling people out because there’s just so many people that want to party, but no one here is [hosting them]. So, we have to build a platform to bring everyone together.”
Realizing they had outgrown the Canadian Brewhouse, they opted to host an event at the Spitz baseball stadium in Lethbridge which allowed them to have a capacity of 5,000. Wildin says this event was logistically challenging to coordinate and required them to begin planning in January 2022.
Many Lethbridge students felt this venue upgrade was a good move by the organizers
One Lethbridge College student Mika Brant says she attended multiple parties hosted by Wildin and the Music Festival was the most impressive.
“The music festival was definitely nicer. Obviously, we’re outside so you could get away from the crowd a little bit more and just take a breather.”
Brant says the food trucks were a nice addition and the DJs all played a solid set.
Brant also appreciates the affordably priced drinks at the music festival and all Wildin events.
Event affordability is something Wildin says they care about as they think it is one of the main reasons they are supported so strongly by the community.
However, the event wasn’t without flaws.
Many attendees waited over an hour to get into the music due to almost every guest arriving at the same time and a shortage of staff/security helping move people into the stadium.
Additionally, Wildin says the City of Lethbridge forced them to end their events at 10 p.m. due to last-minute bylaws re-implemented for the event.
Wildin is looking to address these issues by finding a new venue and increasing the number of staff for the next event.
The group hopes to continue growing and expanding its brand.
They are planning to continue growing and hosting bigger events.
They are currently working to book the Canadian musical duo Loud Luxury who make house and electronic songs including hit track Body for the event they plan to hold on Jan. 13.
