CALIFORNIA: The Emerald Cup has announced the programming for the 16th annual competition and festival, to be held December 14 & 15, 2019. Long known as the largest, most-respected organic outdoor cannabis competition in the world, The Emerald Cup has developed into the destination for agricultural experts, industry innovators, health and wellness advocates, cultural enthusiasts and the canna-curious to celebrate and expand their horizons. In addition to the competition and highly coveted awards, the gathering features the year’s finest sun-grown cannabis harvest, panels, and talks covering a range of current topics, multiple stages of genre-spanning music, experiential and installation art, and a premier organic epicurean experience.

Named for the Emerald Triangle growing region of Northern California’s Mendocino, Humboldt and Trinity counties, The Emerald Cup will be held at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa, CA and tickets are on sale now for 21+ patrons here. The Emerald Cup weekend will be preceded on Friday, December 13 by the invitation-only Emerald Cup Mixer, an industry event open to California licensed cannabis brands.

The Emerald Cup is a place for both cannabis experts and the “canna-curious” to explore. “We look forward to welcoming everyone to what promises to be the best Emerald Cup to-date,” notes founder Tim Blake. “It is truly a beautiful moment in the history of cannabis culture. After enduring the challenges of legalization in California over the last two years, and three years of enduring devastating fires, rain and power outages, the industry has begun to stabilize and this year’s event is an opportunity for our community to celebrate this year’s hard work together.”

A few of the companies that Emerald Cup has partnered with for the 2019 installment include sponsors Flow Kana, Cookies, The Botanist, Elyon, Connected Cannabis, Alien Labs and SC Labs. Learn more about the multi-faceted Emerald Cup below and click here for additional details and tickets.

THE EMERALD CUP COMPETITION 

Open to personal use sun-grown flower cultivators and any currently licensed California cannabis business, The Emerald Cup’s contest features categories including Licensed and Personal Use Cultivators, CBD, Infused Products (Edible, Beverage, Topical & Tincture), Most Innovative Product and much more. “We’re honored to host the largest and most respected cannabis contest in the world,” adds Blake. “Having expanded from just a flowers contest to over twenty seven different competitions in sixteen years has been a remarkable ride. We’re extremely excited to be able to carry on the essence of the contest, which is the tradition of the competition between the personal use farmers. This year we’re also extending it to include solvent less concentrate makers.” For more information on the contest and to enter click here.

The Regenerative Cannabis Farm Award will also be presented and recognizes farms for their outstanding ecological and community work. It is designed to be a catalyst of positive competition filled with information sharing, land stewardship, ethical marketing, watershed consciousness and love of nature, living soil and biodiversity.

The Emerald Cup has also named entertainer and entrepreneur Tommy Chong the recipient of the Emerald Cup’s Willie Nelson Award–the annual lifetime achievement award celebrating those persons who have spearheaded the cannabis movement through advocacy of it’s benefits and accessibility.

EMERALD TALKS & SESSIONS

Emerald Talks (panels and keynotes) will feature over 80 of the biggest and important names in cannabis advocacy, business and culture and will cover a range of compelling topics including: Federal Cannabis Legalization; Sex, Wellness & CBD; Criminal Justice Reform; Regenerative Agriculture; Vaping Facts & Fiction; Entrepreneurship; Cannabis in Food & Wine and more. A few of the speakers that will be at the Emerald Cup include former NBA player, cannabis advocate and entrepreneur Matt Barnes;Drug Policy Alliance Ethan Nadelmann;Entrepreneur and activist Wanda James, who was the first black woman to open a dispensary in Colorado; natural soap giant Dr. Bronner’s CEO (Cosmic Engagement Officer) and leader in establishing the Regenerative Organic Certified standard, David Bronner; Regen Talks with Dragonfly Earth Medicine, author Jeff Lowenfels, Deepak Kumar Chaudhary (Indain Landrace Exchange) and Matthew Trumm (Tree Top Permaculture); and Santa Rosa Mayor Tom Schwedhelm.

“I’m always blown away by the brilliance of our speakers and the variety of topics we present at the Emerald Cup,” notes Blake. “In addition to such high caliber cannabis community members presenting at the Cup, we will be joined by industry experts in farming, science, legal, and manufacturing, as well as everyone from the leaders in the psychedelic movement to the mayor of Santa Rosa.”

MUSIC

The weekend will also see multiple stages of live music, including performances from DJ Snoopadelic (the alter ego of legendary Doggfather and Merry Jane founder Snoop Dogg), Santigold, Steel Pulse, The Polish Ambassador, The Expendables, The Movement, Con Brio and Chali 2na, who will be both performing and creating a “puff & paint” mural. Programming for the Redwood Stage will be curated by the producers of Northern Nights Festival and will be announced soon.

MARKETPLACE & ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCES

Bringing together a wide collection of vendors and exhibitors and featuring over 300 brands, the Marketplace is one of the largest draws to the Emerald Cup.The weekend will also feature all organic food and locally grown produce from organic small farms, display of all the Contest Flower, MAPS psychedelic art and muralists, and a version of Blake’s mystical Mendocino County event space Area 101 will be featured as a throw-back to the location of the very first Emerald Cup 16 years ago.