Detroit's Cannabis Industry Was On The Main Stage Of This Year's Movement Electronic Music Festival

The Movement Electronic Music Festival returned this past weekend featuring a number of cannabis entrepreneurs and dispensary brands, reported The Detroit News.

Some of the cannabis companies that sponsored the festival include Weedmaps MAPS, Breeze Dispensary, Ooze, and Troy-based JARS Cannabis, the main sponsor and first cannabis retailer to sponsor the event. JARS' space at the Festival was designed by artist Kylie Hight.

"No one is coming up to us upset. (...) If anything, it's more curiosity (and) excitement that we're seeing as the main sponsor, which speaks to the progressiveness of what happened during the pandemic," said JARS spokeswoman Ally Galanty. "Three years ago, I don't believe this would have been the case." 

Tristan Blackett, marketing director of Ooze, a hardware cannabis company, said they "realized we have to spend our marketing dollars wisely with a focus on experiences. A lot has changed on the national, state, and local level because weed is no longer the big, bad thing it once was and people are finally coming out of the green closet."

According to Sam Fotias, director of operations for the Movement Festival, cannabis companies accounted for 25% of the event's sponsorships. Other sponsors included Budweiser BUD, Tito's Handmade Vodka and Michigan CAT.

"I think this is a prime example of what has happened in that industry over the last two years while events weren't happening," Fotias said at the festival Sunday. "We were approached by a multitude of brands and we were fortunate enough to have the time to vet all of them and see who was the right fit for us and how easy their teams were to work with."
Photo courtesy of JARS Cannabis