This article is contributed by Leafly , the world ’s largest cannabis information resourcefulness . For more information please visitLeafly .
If you ’re familiar with festival civilization , you know hemp lounge are a long sentence hail . Cannabis has been intertwined with festival since Woodstock and well before – and that ’s not to cite the pivotal role that it has played in the ontogenesis of every genre from malarky to stone ' n ' curlicue .
Yet it ’s far more typical to see plumage of skunk and vapor emanating from a pack main stage bunch in the transactions before a show than it is to see enthusiasts relaxing and consume together at the same place and time ; there has never been a dedicated space for patients to take a breather and medicine compliantly .
Leafly Lounge at Northern Nights Festival|Courtesy of Northern Nights Festival
TheLeaflyTree Lounge , which open atNorthern Nights Music Festivalin Piercy , CA on July 15th , 2016 , was the first - ever official doom expanse for on - internet site white plague of medical marijuana at a fest . “ The thought of joining force with a community - driven liberal arts and music fete in the heart of a cannabis mecca to showcase the first ever legal ganja waiting room was an opportunity not to go through up , ” suppose Kristin Kofmehl , result coordinator for the Tree Lounge . “ If you’re able to have a beer garden , why not a cannabis waiting room ? open up is never sluttish , but the Leafly Tree Lounge was a hit . ”
Thanks to this first issue ’s achiever , Kofmehl says her team plans to use the experience as a template to work cannabis couch to every existing cannabis market in the foreseeable future . The following are seven reason why this historic phenomenon could become the beer garden of our generation .
1. Things happen here that couldn’t happen anywhere else
On the third day of Northern Nights , with the Mendocino County redwoods as my backdrop , I found myself lining up to smash a Donald Trump piñata full of cannabis samples . Where else could this have happened but at a cannabis couch ? Nowhere , that ’s where .
2. Cannabis consumers are the best audience for comedy, music, and art
In the future tense , have a bun in the oven the incorporation of larger art installations , elaborate interactive décor , supplemental musical programming , nontextual matter installations , refreshments , meet - and - greets with cannabis - friendly star , and more .
3. They’re a fresh way to meet people
Shaded by the über - marvellous Tree Lounge collapsible shelter , a central couch area was reign by comfy seating and wide swathe of carpeting , where cannabis fancier of all stripe – from new patient role to OG activists – kicked back in beanbag armchairs , made new friends , and hit up conversation .
Meanwhile , growers , trimmers , and other professionals also jumped on the chance to connection and share feedback ; they walked back and forth from each other ’s table all weekend , toting jars of faultlessly cured flower , offering whiffs , and trading nugs .
4. It makes for a better experience for everyone, even non-consumers
For those who do n’t consume cannabis themselves , standing in a swarm of joint bullet while attempting to savor a show is n’t idealistic ; what is more , some families attend music festival with children in tow , and may not revalue heart-to-heart consumption around their kid . Twenty - one - and - up cannabis lounges , which require a valid medical identity card where applicable , solve both problems .
Cannabis consumers , for their part , are not only happy to medicine in a responsible for and compliant way , they appreciate the chance to do so . The most frequent input we heard over the course of the weekend ? “ give thanks you for being here . ”
5. Beer gardens were born of strict regulations, too
In sixteenth - C Germany , a rescript of brewing regulations know as theBrauordnungstipulated that no brewing could take place in Bavaria between April and September . In response , brewers stab cellars to store their beer at lower temperature over the hot summertime , and plant shade trees above the cellars to aid in cool down . It was n’t long before thirsty Germans decided to put table and chairs beneath the shade tree diagram , where they spent their summers drinking alternatively of brewing . The modernistic American beer garden evolve from these original German iteration .
Alcohol , though , has earned areputation for breeding aggression , and some festivals – likeShambhalain British Columbia – have ostracize it entirely . Other , such asWhat the Festivalin Oregon , ban glass container , a supplying which interdict a good portion of alcohol-dependent drinkable . What better to take its place than marihuana ? We may be biased , but we ca n’t conceive of anything .
6. Peoplelovethem
“ [ A marijuana sofa is ] a chill companionship , ” said Taylor , * who visited the Leafly Tree Lounge several times over the course of the weekend . “ you could amount back and unwind and just unbend , get your med on , you do n’t have to worry about anything – [ it ’s ] carefree , you know ? ”
Jeremy , * who chatter the Tree Lounge with two ally , concord . “ The whole 215 collapsible shelter in world-wide has been a great experience , ” he sound out . “ More music festivals should have a space like this – it brings tiptop - positive vibration and a lot of one . ” Carson , * a lighting fashion designer from Los Angeles , added that he one day hoped to see cannabis lounge at more places than beer gardens .
7. Their evolution is inevitable
Proposition 215 legalized aesculapian ganja in California twenty years ago . Today , aesculapian marijuana is legal in over half the United States . The natural next step is for states to accommodate patients ’ postulate with space for legal intake .
“ Everybody ’s [ been ] doing it behind the curtains and kind of hiding because of the laws , ” said one attendee , Joe , * of cannabis consumption at festival . “ A lot of it is backstage , you have it off ? You ca n’t fully be out there . ” But as cannabis omnipresence and adoption have evolved , phenomena like marihuana lounges will keep to help sew cannabis ever more tightly into the cloth of American spirit , and frailty versa . In poor , if you ’d expect to see beer gardens a certain event , expect to see cannabis couch graze up alongside them more and more over the next few year .
- Full figure withheld to protect affected role privacy .
This clause was originally published asAre Cannabis Lounges the New Beer Gardens ? Here Are 7 Reasons Why They Might Be . For this and more articles on cannabis news and culture , visitLeafly news program .
ratify up herefor our daily Thrillist e-mail , and get your fix of the best in food / swallow / fun .
Leafly/Youtube
Courtesy of Northern Nights Festival
Courtesy of Northern Nights Festival
Courtesy of the Northern Nights Festival
