What Happened At The Emerald Cup Harvest Ball: An Inside Look At One Of The Hottest Cannabis Events In California

Beginning its journey to its 19th annual awards, Emerald Cup wrapped its second annual Harvest Ball earlier this month in Santa Rosa, CA.

The organization continued to gather its community, celebrate small farms and set the pace for global cannabis conversations while providing a platform for music discovery.

What Happened

The global Emerald Cup celebration of this year’s harvest started with support for the community when it was needed most.

On December 9, the organizers created an intimate Emerald Cup Small Farms Buyers’ Club. In the true spirit of the Emerald Cup, founder Tim Blake, with the help of the Emerald Cup Small Farms Initiative Council and unwavering support from the community, hosted 48 small farms representing 7 counties from all over the state to provide new avenues for distribution and access for award-winning, craft, and heirloom cannabis.

The rough-around-the-edges, but culture-filled B2B event was held in partnership with Mercy Wellness at its new consumption lounge space in Cotati. The event provided a compliant space for top buyers from leading dispensaries to connect with the small farmers one-on-one and meet the cultivators in a true farmers market setting.

DAY 1: E-40 TAKES THE STAGE, AL HARRINGTON VISITS THE EMERALD CUP COMMUNITY

On Saturday, a large and diverse crowd of cannabis fans converged at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa, CA.

The energy was electric despite periods of rain showers while consumers, industry leaders, and the Emerald Cup community poured into the festival to participate in thoughtful Emerald Cup Sessions panels, and listened to various musical performances from local and chart-topping artists. In a moment only possible at the Harvest Ball, CEO of Viola and 16-Year NBA Veteran, Al Harrington and Tim Blake shared a hug and conversation while at the Compound Genetics booth.

Fans enjoyed top-shelf cannabis, landrace-derived hash, and a wide selection of food trucks as they eagerly awaited a performance by E-40 to close out the day. Hyphy culture was in the air as E-40 delivered a high-wattage performance and brought out last year’s Harvest Ball performer, Keak Da Sneak for a surprise performance.

DAY 2: CHANNEL TRES GIVES A SHOW-STOPPING PERFORMANCE, WHILE TIM BLAKE HONORS TERRANCE ALAN, AMY RALSTON POVAH AND STEPHANIE LANDA

The Emerald Cup community showed up big, returning on Sunday for Day 2 of the Harvest Ball.

Building upon last year’s collaborative efforts with the Department of Cannabis Control, the Emerald Cup worked hard once again this year to ensure a safe and fun event for all. In a positive step forward, Day 2 kicked off with a passionate Emerald Cup Sessions panel held by the Department of Cannabis Control’s Eugene Hillsman, Deputy Director of Equity & Inclusion and Cassandra DiBenedetto, External Affairs, Chief Engagement Officer.

Tim Blake took the Emerald Stage presented by Cookies on Sunday afternoon to bestow Terrance Alan the “Emerald Cup Legacy Award'' for the LGBTQ+ advocate's decades-long career in cannabis and amplifying awareness of the power of cannabis in San Francisco as the AIDS/ HIV epidemic swept through the nation. In 1996, after the passage of Prop 215, Terrance helped found the nation’s first non-profit dispensary, CHAMP (Californians Helping to Alleviate Medical Problems) which would eventually win a court case that eliminated sales tax from medical cannabis sales for patients in need. Terrance Alan dedicated his acceptance to fellow advocate Wayne Justmann, who helped pave the way for medical marijuana in San Francisco, CA.

Tim Blake awarded the Social Justice Award to co-recipients Amy Ralston Povah of CAN-DO and Stephanie Landa of Freedom Grow.

Stephanie registered Freedom Grow a 501C3, as a way to legally and efficiently send money to prisoners incarcerated for cannabis-related crimes after her own incarceration and signifies the community support and resource behind incarcerated prisoners.

The late-day rain didn’t halt the festivities of the 2022 Harvest Ball, which closed out the weekend with the final show-stopping performance by  Compton native, Channel Tres. Much like its reputation in cannabis, the Harvest Ball has always been a place of discovery and a platform for emerging talent on the rise (last year’s event featured a performance by Pitchfork’s Best New Artist Sudan Archives). Proclaiming “hello stoners” from the  Emerald Stage at the start of his performance, Tres and his dynamic dancers brought the heat, keeping the crowd dancing and grooving a few days after his 2 sold-out shows in Los Angeles.