The Bongo Club

The Bongo Club is a music and arts venue at 66 Cowgate in Edinburgh. It began in 1996 in former bus-garage offices on New Street, as part of Out of the Blue’s New Street Studios. Out of the Blue, an Edinburgh arts charity, owns and runs the club. It moved to premises leased from the University of Edinburgh in 2003, operating at Moray House before relocating to its Cowgate building in 2013, beneath Edinburgh Central Library.

The four-storey building has a main performance room with a stage and capacity for 300 standing or 120 seated. An upstairs room has a separate bar and sound system, as does the main room. The venue hosts club nights, gigs and live performances, alongside theatre, film screenings, rehearsals, conferences and meetings. It closes during the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, when Underbelly takes over the lease.

Its programme spans bass, reggae, rave, techno, house and disco. Midnight Bass, Disorder Scotland, Alien Disko and Candyflip Scotland are among the promoters that have run events there. Electrikal Sound System, focused on bass music, and Messenger Sound System, which plays dub and reggae, have both held residencies. Pulse, a techno night launched by Darrell Pulse in 2009, is another part of the club’s history. Artists to have played include Kae Tempest, Loyle Carner, Four Tet and Jeff Mills.