Marijuana mega-fest draws record 30,000 to Wine Country
A record-breaking estimated 30,000 California medical pot farmers, family, friends and fans swamped Santa Rosa for a gargantuan marijuana festival dubbed the Emerald Cup at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds over the weekend.
The agricultural competition featured more than 1,100 flowers, extracts, edibles and other formulations — a 50 percent increase from last year — battling it out for the title of best in California.
“The awards is the highlight of Sunday,” said marketing director Jordan Caballero.
Adults 21 and over can lawfully possess up to an ounce of cannabis flowers, 8 grams of pot extract and grow six plants, regardless of their medical status.
High-ranking officials such as the state’s chief pot regulator, Lori Ajax; Assemblyman Jim Wood, D-Healdsburg; and Board of Equalization Member Fiona Ma mingled among the throngs at the 13th annual music showcase, expo and competition, which celebrates a billion-dollar bumper crop of medical and recreational pot in the newly legalized state.
Hotels were reportedly sold out for 30 miles in every direction, and attendees flew, drove and bused in from New Jersey, Michigan, Florida and beyond — gifting the region a weekend economic boon measured in the tens of millions of dollars, organizers estimate.
Guests to the medical cannabis competition needed a doctor’s note to buy and consume flower buds and baked goods in the sprawling, crowded, roaring cannabis bazaar.
In the “medication area,” California’s leading growers and medical collectives handed out free joints and hash to guests who signed up.
Patients resupplied on THC-infused mouth drops and skin rubs, buying for friends with medical conditions, or just Christmas shopping.
Farmers spent the day in educational panels, learning marketing and branding tips, and studying new state medical and adult-use regulations.
Outside the medication area, huge lines snaked out from food trucks all day long as attendees waited for servings of hot Old Mexico Loco Nachos, Wings & Things, Mission Hill Creamery ice cream and Ultimate Souvlaki.
By contrast, the fairgrounds’ beer gardens were barren, and the Santa Rosa Police Department did not list any significant incidents as of Sunday morning.
In addition to full legalization, California’s medical cannabis industry is in the middle of historic regulations.
California Department of Pesticide Regulation’s Brian Leahy warned growers during a Saturday panel that a reckoning was coming for the state’s tainted marijuana supply chain.
The state isn’t waiting for direction from the incoming Trump administration, because state deadlines mandate the release of license applications and licenses for the industry.
The Emerald Cup started as a harvest party and friendly contest on a private lot in Mendocino County in 2003.