Cannabis connoisseurs ready to spark up at SLO County marijuana festival
From the terpiest extract to the best looking buds, Central Coast marijuana producers will showcase their goods next week at San Luis Obispo County’s first recreational cannabis festival and competition.
The inaugural SLO Cup promises to showcase “the best flowers and extracts the Central Coast has to offer” along with a host of activities, like glassblowing demonstrations, food trucks and a circus tent with cannabis-inspired face painting — all with reggae and local hip hop performances throughout the day.
SLO NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws) is hosting the event on private property between San Luis Obispo and Avila Beach from noon to 8 p.m. July 22.
Organizers are expecting about 500 people. A similar event for medical users hosted on the same property last December saw a crowd of about 250, said Nicolas Pitchon, who owns the land and is managing the event along with Matthew O’Connor.
Similar events have been hosted this year in Bakersfield, San Bernardino and Santa Rosa.
Pitchon said growers are excited about the opportunity to finally showcase their products on the local scene.
While recreational marijuana was legalized in California for adults over 21 last November, sales of the product remain illegal until next year. Instead, those who attend will be able to win joints or a dab in raffles and games.
As for the competition? More than 45 samples of flowers and concentrate products made mostly in San Luis Obispo County will be tested by dozens of medical-cannabis users. Judges will consider things like taste, looks and effect, all of which can be influenced by breeding, crop tending, harvest and post-harvest processing. A trophy ceremony will be held at the event.
Awards will include Best Overall Flower and Best Overall Concentrate, as well as first, second and third place trophies for Indoor Flower, Mixed-light Flower, Sungrown Flower, Solvent Concentrate and Solventless Concentrate. Additional awards include Terpiest Extract, Most Potent Extract and others may be created to recognize achievements of participants who impress judges, Pitchon said.
Monica Vaughan: 805-781-7930, @MonicaLVaughan
Call SLO NORML for more information at (805) 464-7420. Tickets for the July 22 event range from $20 for general admission to $75 for VIP that includes a gift bag. Those interested in judging can buy a Flower Judge Kit for $150 or a Concentrate Judge Kit for $250. The location of the event will be announced the day before. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.eventbrite.com/e/slo-cup-tickets-34129664746?aff=es2
This story was originally published July 11, 2017 at 5:01 PM with the headline "Cannabis connoisseurs ready to spark up at SLO County marijuana festival."