Large marijuana, music festival dubbed CannaBash coming to Muskegon

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https://www.mlive.com/news/muskegon/2022/03/large-marijuana-music-festival-dubbed-cannabash-coming-to-muskegon.html

MUSKEGON, MI – A large marijuana consumption event with live music is planned this summer at a softball complex near Muskegon.

CannaBash will be a cannabis-infused celebration on July 9 at Softball World in Muskegon Township.

“It’s going to be a really cool consumption outdoor music festival,” event organizer Connie Maxim Sparrow told MLive.

The township board on Monday, March 7, agreed to the request by Cannabis Lupus Café to host the event that will include seven marijuana retailers, on-site marijuana consumption, live music, games and a fireworks display.

Township officials have been planning such an event since last fall as a way to unite and highlight the local recreational marijuana industry, Muskegon Township Supervisor Jennifer Hodges told MLive.

Seven recreational marijuana retailers are operating in the township with an eighth set to open within a month or two. There also is an established marijuana cultivator in the township.

CannaBash, planned for 3-11 p.m., will have a $25 general admission fee. VIP tickets will be $100 and will include catered food; preferred shaded seating; and its own cannabis vending area, Sparrow said.

Seven marijuana retailers, all of which have retail locations in the township, will be on site: Kai Cannabis, Pure Options, Cloud Cannabis, Lucky’s, High Profile, Skymint and NOBO.

Other vendors and food trucks will be there as well. Also planned are games, including kickball and softball, and fireworks. At least four bands will perform, Sparrow said.

“It’s going to be a big smoke sesh with some really cool bands,” she said.

She estimates turnout could number 5,000 to 7,000.

There will be no alcohol at the event since administrative rules say consumption events can’t dispense alcohol and cannabis at the same time, Sparrow said. She’s hoping a temporary liquor license can be obtained for future CannaBash events.

Representatives from the marijuana establishments have been serving on a committee that is planning the bash under Sparrow’s direction and township officials’ guidance, Hodges said. It’s a unique private, nonprofit, public initiative that Hodges said she hopes will strengthen the local cannabis industry.

“In today’s day and age we need to be open minded,” Hodges said, noting that a majority of township voters were in favor of legalization of recreational marijuana. “That’s what we’re trying to do at Muskegon Township.”

Proceeds from the event will be placed with the Canna Social Equity Foundation for donation to a nonprofit organization serving Muskegon Township, said Sparrow, who is the foundation’s executive director.

The foundation was formed to help marijuana businesses donate to nonprofit organizations, which can help them satisfy social equity obligations, she said. Because marijuana is illegal under federal law, it can be tough for nonprofits to accept donations from marijuana businesses, and the foundation helps alleviate that, she said.

The township in February approved a marijuana consumption event ordinance needed for CannaBash.

“This is the township’s opportunity to do some cannabis tourism,” Sparrow said.