It’s been 18 years since Word of Mouth Events first started gracing the Black Country with its unique and diverse approach to the entertainment industry.
From large scale night festivals to smaller intimate occasions, Word of Mouth Events is a name that will sound very familiar to many locals across Wolverhampton and further afield. And with plenty of highly anticipated events lined up for 2025 including a number of over-30’s dayclubs and a fantastic line-up of summer festivals, Word of Mouth Events may just be your ticket to a year of incredible entertainment.
Stuart Ojelay, the company’s founder, was initially introduced to Wolverhampton’s vibrant nightlife whilst working behind the bar at The Canal Club, which was named ‘Club of the Year’ in 1997, effectively putting Stuart at the forefront of various opportunities.
From here, Stuart Ojelay honed his passion for delivering high quality events – firstly by taking over The Canal Club’s Thursday Nights – famously known as Totty – and later by embarking on larger scale DJ and promotion work abroad.
“After 10 years of travelling and widening my experience, it was definitely time for the big project: Word of Mouth Events.” explains Stuart. “I was lucky to start this up with one of my best friends, James Garrett, and in 2007 we both set out to bring something even more unique to Wolverhampton’s renowned nightlife.”“Word of Mouth Events is all about providing a safe environment so everyone can have an incredible time. Our ethos is to ensure we are entirely transparent, so people can really trust what they’re coming to see.”
Priding itself on providing up-market and quality events, Word of Mouth Events cover just about everything. Whatever the occasion, from two day festivals to smaller gatherings such as birthdays and personal celebrations, it’s always entirely bespoke and unique to each event.
“We’re always at the forefront of trends and everything going on, so can adapt and cater for whatever the event requires. We very much have our own identity and are always thinking outside the box to ensure we stand separate from similar initiatives.”
And it’s that level of creativity that is always found within each and every Word of Mouth event. Shortly after starting the company, both Stuart and James became involved with producing their own tracks which saw a great degree of success.
“We had the pleasure of working with Todd Terry and Bob Sinclar – both huge icons within the industry. It’s incredibly rewarding to be able to create my own content and then share it with everyone else; it’s one of the many things I love about my work.”
Not only did Stuart’s talent reach renowned music producers, but also huge names such as The Ministry of Sound and Hed Kandi. “This was one of my lifetime dreams as it really didn’t get much bigger than that for me. I was named ‘Worldwide Resident DJ’ and spent the next 4 years travelling the world with Hed Kandi/Ministry of Sound, covering a wide range of events.”“I went everywhere: Bali, Brazil… you name it. I worked in every continent other than Antarctica! And as you can imagine, representing brands as huge as those, the life and work experience I obtained in those 4 years was priceless.”
On returning permanently to the U.K., Stuart poured all this new experience into giving Word of Mouth Events a whole new lease of life, and with that, bringing many people from across the country to our city: “Our focus now is to try and champion our local area with Word of Mouth Events. Yes, we’ve had many requests to take our most popular events across the U.K. – and even over the globe – but it would be really great if we could see the rest of the country coming down to see us.”
And people are certainly prepared to make that journey. In recent years, ticket sales have continuously increased, with an impressive number of purchases being made across the U.K. map. This huge growth in the brand has allowed the team to expand; they now have a prolific roster of gifted djs, musicians and performers. This is led by second in command Dan Roberts who is integral to the brand from in his stellar DJ performances to keeping the team together and managing the constant mental challenges the events industry can bring.
This Word of Mouth family are united in their vision and allow so many more events to take place.
One key factor driving the ticket sales increase is the company’s heightened presence across social media; including Facebook, Tik Tok and Instagram, enabling Word of Mouth Events to reach an audience on a much wider scale.
“Our visibility on social media means we can start hitting new areas and reaching new people. It also means that we get quite a large response to the events we put on, and with that, there will always be a mixture of great feedback and some criticism.”What’s important to us, though, is ensuring we are proactive to everyone’s outlook and consistently listening to make sure our events only get better. We are always learning.”
2025 will see their fourth festival at Himley Hall. This annual tradition has reaped enormous success each year and is a contender for being the Black Country’s largest dance festival, with an upward figure of 4000 guests.
“The festival we do at Himley is a perfect embodiment of what Word of Mouth Events really is about. There we champion everything local – from food to staff to entertainment. It’s very much a celebration of the people and culture of The Black Country as well as it is an incredibly fun day to eve.”
This year will also continue to offer a number of over-30’s dayclubs across various towns and cities within the Midlands – something which has proved a very popular hit with clubbers who still need to get home by 10pm!
What’s more, Word of Mouth Events will be hosting their first over-30’s festival at Trentham Estate on June 14th.
With so much going on, there really is something for everyone. To see what upcoming events Word of Mouth are hosting and to buy tickets, visit their website: www.wordofmouthevents.com
And for more information on what they’ve been up to, and what’s next in store, visit their social media: wordofmoutheventsuk
“I went everywhere: Bali, Brazil… you name it. I worked in every continent other than Antarctica! And as you can imagine, representing brands as huge as those, the life and work experience I obtained in those 4 years was priceless.”
On returning permanently to the U.K., Stuart poured all this new experience into giving Word of Mouth Events a whole new lease of life, and with that, bringing many people from across the country to our city: “Our focus now is to try and champion our local area with Word of Mouth Events. Yes, we’ve had many requests to take our most popular events across the U.K. – and even over the globe – but it would be really great if we could see the rest of the country coming down to see us.”
And people are certainly prepared to make that journey. In recent years, ticket sales have continuously increased, with an impressive number of purchases being made across the U.K. map. This huge growth in the brand has allowed the team to expand; they now have a prolific roster of gifted djs, musicians and performers. This is led by second in command Dan Roberts who is integral to the brand from in his stellar DJ performances to keeping the team together and managing the constant mental challenges the events industry can bring.
This Word of Mouth family are united in their vision and allow so many more events to take place.
One key factor driving the ticket sales increase is the company’s heightened presence across social media; including Facebook, Tik Tok and Instagram, enabling Word of Mouth Events to reach an audience on a much wider scale.
“Our visibility on social media means we can start hitting new areas and reaching new people. It also means that we get quite a large response to the events we put on, and with that, there will always be a mixture of great feedback and some criticism.”
What’s important to us, though, is ensuring we are proactive to everyone’s outlook and consistently listening to make sure our events only get better. We are always learning.”
2025 will see their fourth festival at Himley Hall. This annual tradition has reaped enormous success each year and is a contender for being the Black Country’s largest dance festival, with an upward figure of 4000 guests.
