Rolling Stoner Sessions with The Garden Pretoria
Built Around Community, Music and a Willingness to Try
Interviewer and writer: Andrew Macfarlane
As you step into The Garden in Pretoria, each new corner reveals a little more about the space. It’s a club you gradually discover with each visit.
The double-storey venue combines greenery, wood, music and several different social spaces. More importantly, though, The Garden has been built around the idea of creating a healthy community.
For Cameron and the team, that means giving members somewhere they can connect, spend time together and contribute to the wider sense of unity that has developed around the club.
Downstairs is where much of the activity happens, while the upper level gives members somewhere quieter to sit, relax and take in the afternoon light.
We caught up with Cameron for a Rolling Stoner Session to hear where The Garden came from, how its community has developed and why music and experimentation continue to play such a big role in the club.
The Man Behind The Garden
Behind The Garden is Cameron, who has been involved in the cannabis industry since around 2020.
This is not his first experience in the space.
Before The Garden came together, he had already spent time building online brands, working with other venues, travelling and learning from people across the wider cannabis community.
Those experiences gave him a good view of what worked, what didn’t and what he wanted to approach differently.
“I’d been in the industry for a few years by the time The Garden came together, so I already knew what I wanted to do differently.”
Cameron was also not building the idea alone.
During the early stages of The Garden, he had a strong support system around him, including partners who helped turn the concept into something tangible.
That support, together with the relationships he had already built within the industry, became an important part of the club’s foundations.
By the time The Garden opened, Cameron had a much clearer idea of what he wanted to create: something personal, social and closely connected to the community around it.
From Experience To The Garden
Travel also played a role in shaping Cameron’s thinking, particularly time spent in Amsterdam.
Seeing how established cannabis spaces operated there gave him another reference point for what a cannabis club could be. It also helped him identify what he wanted to do differently back home.
“Amsterdam gave me another way of looking at cannabis spaces. I didn’t want to copy that here, but it definitely helped shape what I thought a good club could be.”
The Garden became a chance to take those experiences and turn them into something more personal.
Rather than trying to recreate Amsterdam in Pretoria, Cameron wanted the club to feel rooted in its own surroundings and shaped by the people using it.
The wider South African cannabis community has been important too.
“I’ve learned a lot from other people in the community. Some are partners, some are friends, and a lot of what we do comes from those relationships.”
That collaborative approach continues to shape The Garden today.
Creating A Community Around The Garden
Community is one of the clearest threads running through the club.
The aim is not simply to give members somewhere to visit. The Garden has become a place where people build relationships with one another.
Regular activities help create that rhythm.
Mondays are for movies, Tuesdays are for bingo, Wednesdays revolve around games such as pool and chess, while Thursdays are reserved for quiz night.
Each gives members a different reason to spend time at the club and meet people they may not otherwise have crossed paths with.
“We want people to have a reason to come back that isn’t just about buying cannabis. Movie nights, bingo, games, events, whatever works for the community.”
Over time, those repeated interactions have helped create the sense of unity Cameron originally wanted from the space.
Music Has Become A Big Part Of The Garden
While The Garden runs activities throughout the week, music events have become one of the venue’s strongest attractions.
The club has hosted DJs, live entertainment and larger music-focused gatherings that transform the atmosphere of the venue.
These events have also become an important way of bringing different parts of Pretoria’s cannabis, creative and social communities together.
Rather than treating music as background entertainment, The Garden has increasingly used it as a way to create memorable shared experiences.
A successful event might fill the downstairs social areas, spill into the outdoor spaces and completely change the energy of the club for the evening.
It is an approach that suits Cameron’s broader philosophy.
The team tries different artists, concepts and event formats, watches how the community responds and builds from there.
For members, it means the experience of visiting The Garden can look very different depending on the day.
Flower Still Matter
Community may be the foundation, but flower remains an important part of The Garden’s cannabis offering.
The team pays close attention to quality, terpene profiles and variety, with the menu regularly featuring different indoor and outdoor options.
Rather than simply filling shelves, the team is involved in guiding the selection and making sure members have an opportunity to explore different cultivars, aromas and flavour profiles.
“Flower is always going to be important to us. I want variety, good terpene profiles and enough choice for people to actually explore what they enjoy.”
The Garden also works with growers, brands and other people across the cannabis community.
That collaborative approach extends to pre-rolls, edibles and other products developed or supplied through trusted partners.
“We don’t need to do everything ourselves. If someone in the community is already doing something really well, I’d rather work with them.”
More Than The Club Itself
The Garden’s location also gives members access to a few useful extras without the club needing to provide everything itself.
There is a car wash next door, which means members can have their vehicle cleaned while spending time at The Garden.
Food can also be ordered from Padstal Restaurant and brought across to members at the club.
It keeps things convenient while allowing The Garden to focus more heavily on what it does best: creating a social space and developing its programme of community and music events.
The Freedom To Try Something New
One of Cameron’s simplest philosophies has also become one of the most important.
Try it.
Not every event needs to arrive with a detailed formula or an expectation that it will become a permanent fixture.
That thinking has opened the door to ideas outside the usual cannabis-club programme, including private yoga sessions, themed gatherings and different music concepts.
“Sometimes the idea is literally just, ‘let’s try it’. If people want a private yoga session, we’ll see if we can make it happen. Not everything needs a huge rulebook before you start.”
The team can run an idea, see how members respond and decide from there whether it deserves another outing.
Some concepts stick.
Others might only work once.
Either way, The Garden remains open to giving them a chance.
That flexibility is particularly visible in its events, where music, different communities and new ideas continue to overlap.
The Garden is still developing, with new collaborations, artists, event formats and activities becoming part of the club as opportunities arise.
There may be cannabis at its heart, but the bigger goal is connection.
The Garden is building a community around the venue and allowing that community to help determine what the club becomes next.