Launch of the Emerald Cup Harvest Ball 2021 – a new event in support of small cannabis farmers – Latest cannabis news today

The Emerald Cup is a cannabis event that takes place in Northern California. If you ask the organizers, cannabis will be celebrated. Those who enter the competition will say that it is the last arena. Ask someone else and they will tell you it’s a really good time.

For the first time in its eighteen-year history, the Emerald Cup will be preceded by a new event, putting small cannabis farms in the spotlight. Emerald Cup Harvest Ball Announcement. If you are twenty-one or older, consider yourself invited.

What is the Emerald Cup?

The Emerald Cup is usually a two-day event and hosts a cannabis competition, marketplace, fair, and social get-together. Plus live music, expert panels, good food and lots of tasting opportunities. The competition is world-famous and very intense, with the jury selecting the winners in over forty categories. The competition submission will open in mid-December and the date for the award ceremony has not yet been announced. In the meantime, there’s a pre-party going on that has a good cause.

Flashback to the Emerald Cup 2018 with Craig Ex from Expert Joints

Emerald Cup Harvest Ball

The Emerald Cup Harvest Ball, held at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds and Flamingo Resort in Santa Rosa, is all about connecting the cannabis community. Between entertainment, social building, and direct consumer market, this event focuses on creating good spirits and cannabis kinship. It has all of the fun and festivities that come with the competition, but the focus is on small cannabis growers. To support local producers, the organizers have launched the Small Farms Initiative Program. Thanks to this new program, over thirty cannabis farms will receive free exhibition space, specials and support.

“These smallholders are the real roots of our industry, so it means so much to me and all of us at the Emerald Cup to help them thrive as our industry enters a new age of cannabis production, sales and consumption” says Emerald Cup founder and CEO Tim Blake.

Emerald Cup Small Farms Initiative Program – Small Farm Support

The first list of program participants has been announced (scroll down for the full list of selected participants). For the selected, this includes a sponsored entry for a premium spot, a reduced concession agreement and increased brand advertising. In addition, each company has the opportunity to submit three product SKUs for a special sales promotion. The aim is to connect the consumer directly with the farmer and promote win-win relationships.

Program authorization

After each farm was included in the program, a lottery was held to select thirty farms for the harvest ball. According to the organizers, qualified farmers were expected to:

• Have a current and valid California state cannabis grow license
• Have a maximum farm size of 10,000 square feet
• Practice sustainable agriculture and / or take part in third-party certification programs such as OCal, Sun + Earth Certification, Clean Green Certification, Regennabis, Envirocann, etc.

“These smaller farms have struggled for years with complicated regulations, onerous taxes, limited access to retail and a volatile market,” says Michael Katz, chairman of the Small Farms Council. “We are excited about the large number of participants in this program and the opportunity to support farms that are already in the licensed consumer market and those who are new to the market.”

If you’d like to attend, the event will take place December 11-12, 2021 and is open to anyone twenty-one years of age or older with valid photo ID. For more information about the Emerald Cup events or to get tickets, Click here.

Would you like to see the green gold that is grown? Sorted by county, here is a list of the farms selected for the Emerald Cup Small Farms Initiative Program.

Humboldt Valley

Lake County

Mendocino County

Nevada County

Santa Cruz County

Sonoma County

Trinity County