Do festivals actually help us?
We will get to that in a minute, but first let’s talk.
We have the State Fair, Reggae, Emerald Cup, North Beach Faire and Cannafest to name a few of the large festivals in Northern California.
If you are an attendee or an event business, you find that events inspire, teach, intrigue, entertain, and generally bring people together in a relaxing, having fun kinda way. And there, suddenly, you have people enjoying themselves – oh my! But,, still, some might ask, why bother? I’ll just stay home, drink a beer and it is too pricy anyway and the damn parking and….. Oh, no you won’t. Folks have actually done studies about festivals. You know that have been around with us since the beginning.
Athenian festivals were deeply interwoven into Athenian culture. Unlike our modern cultural gatherings, women were often excluded from most of the fun. But, with celebration, whether it’s the changing of the seasons or worshipping of some deity or idea, we’ll always like the idea of a party.
Those studies I mentioned have revealed quite the handful of positives for any festival. At basic, it is simply connecting with those around us, a chance to be with our community and to witness our culture. The definition of culture can be amorphous, but sometimes, frankly, too academic. The cannabis community is steeped in a rich culture that is easily seen in our community’s festivals. The report is in on the recent Reggae festival up here in Humboldt and the word is heartwarming, everyone was quite taken by the felt “vibe”. Not all festivals make this mark, but those are the ones you want to go back too.
Who knew that having fun would be so useful? We mentioned the positive emotions you encounter there; could that be because of the clear stress reduction a party gives you – laughter and everything!
And we haven’t even mentioned music. You would be a poor soul if music weren’t some part of your life. Often our community’s festivals are packed with sound or outright worship it, as Reggae does. The especially wonderful part is you don’t even need to be an “officianato”, I like what I like and Spotify gets me there. Swaying to the music, dancing on the floor, now that’s tribal, that’s community.
And, finally, how about learning and growth as a motivation for attending; it really is; when I went to Cannafest last year and cruised the booths with my friend, I had a change to meet and talk with plenty of folks in my industry; everyone was animated and excited to be there. I have a radio show and I am always looking out for guests; here was an avalanche of guests – that’s called networking. A festival makes that easy.
If you are a business…. Well, there is enough going with that for another article. But, real simple, let people know that you will be there; email announcements as part of your regular promotion efforts. Businesses can create an emotional connection with possible customers; after all, you are gathering, you are celebrating, and you are having a great time.
Going to the fair… and you want more advice?
Not really, eh? Yeah, just go.
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Steve Dodge owns Homegrown Farms and partners at Humboldt Growers Network. Besides The Cannabis Show, he is on substack (https://nevergiveup.substack.com/) and Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/home_grown). Well, almost on. Been in the biz since 1978. His farm comes equipped with Gizmo, the black cat and Leda, the really big Rottweiler.
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