The modern landscape of a giant cannabis event such as the Emerald Cup, which is held at the Sonoma fairgrounds just outside Santa Rosa Ca. is nothing short of sensory overload. Getting to the event early and realizing how many others had as well was a wake up call to just how many people this event really draws. Estimated attendance was sitting at 30,000 with a record breaking 1,100 contest entries of the finest cannabis flowers and related products produced in the Golden State. One of the longest running cup events in California, which is limited to sun grown entries only, was a sight to behold. A gigantic vendor area gave people a chance to get up close and personal with the latest and greatest top shelf flowers, terpene-laden concentrates, fantastic edibles and so much more.
A very diverse group of people gathered under the roof to take in all of the sights and smells. We saw many people that were not your stereotypical cup crowd, middle and older aged nicely dressed professionals, well heeled cowboys in fancy shirts, and of course lots of hoodies with Rasta colors clenching Pelican cases of all sizes. Moving from isle to isle and planning the panel discussions that you want to see plus trying all of the incredible dabs and still managing to get a hold of the seeds that you wanted, proved to be a challenge. Even though it sounds cliche there is just not enough time to do it all, so getting the most important things on the list done and working your way down while trying not to get sidetracked or take too long waiting in any lines was our approach.
Hitman Glass had a big outdoor glass blowing expo going on Saturday, complete with a long table full of torches and a big lathe spinning tubes of glass that are skillfully being turned into colorful working pieces. Just don’t lose track of time staring at the molten glass or you may miss a lecture from Jeff Lowenfels or Jorge Cervantes on the latest knowledge of organic microbes and cultivation technique. There really is a lot going on at the Emerald Cup and I would suggest that if you have the chance to attend this mega event next year that you jump on it!