Action Bronson & Ludacris Set to Headline National Cannabis Festival on 420

The National Cannabis Festival announced its musical lineup Tuesday with rappers Action Bronson and Ludacris set to headline the 420 festival. The event will take place in Washington, D.C. the day after the second annual National Cannabis Policy Summit on April 19.

The festival, which first came together in 2016, has booked prominent rappers and hip-hop artists to headline its musical component the past three years. De La Soul headlined the event in 2016, Talib Kweli and The Pharcyde were at the helm in 2017 and Cypress Hill filled the spot in 2018. This succession makes Ludacris, whose 2004 banger “Blueberry Yum Yum” (vintage!) serves as a love song to a particularly potent strain, and Action Bronson, who smokes so much weed someone actually wrote an exposé about it, feel like safe headliner choices for the 2019 lineup.

Bud & Hip-Hop

In general, rappers tend to be the most vocal cannabis aficionados in the music realm, to the point that their acknowledgement of pot usage feels cursory rather than laudable in the way the habits of country stars like Kasey Musgraves or Margo Price might. Legends like Snoop Dogg and E-40 have even taken their love of bud to the next level by becoming full-blown cannabis entrepreneurs in the legal market. So overall, it’s no surprise that genre greats would be sought-after for festivals like the NCF, as well as other cannabis-oriented events like Kushstock, the High Times Cannabis Cups and High Life Festival.

The NCF, which will take place on the festival grounds of D.C.’s RFK Stadium, is also set to feature a special lounge for veterans and other members of the military, a Shark Tank-esque pitch contest for would-be cannabis entrepreneurs with a $1,000 prize and “educational pavilions” where attendees can learn more about medical marijuana and the myriad benefits of CBD.

Plus, attendees can enter for the chance to win the “Ultimate Weed Wedding,” which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like — a wedding reception for 50 guests sponsored by D.C.-based non-profit King Weedy Cannabis Collective, with all the infused offerings that sponsorship implies. Um, can you say romantic?

Looking Forward to 420

Then there’s the National Cannabis Policy Summit, also run by the NCF, which will take place on April 19 at the Newseum and is free and open to the public. Though this year’s lineup is not yet available, but speakers at last year’s summit included Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, politician and activist Ben Jealous and even Cannabis Now contributor Ricardo Baca, so more likely than not this year’s roster will be just as stacked.

If all of this sounds alluring enough to entice you to make our nation’s Capital your 420 destination, tickets to the festival are available for sale on the NCF’s website starting at $45 a pop, so long as you’re 21 or older. And if you do head out to the District, be sure to remember that although marijuana has been recreationally legal in D.C. since its constituents passed a ballot initiative in 2014, it’s still illegal to buy, sell or consume it in public there, so be prepared to jump through some loopholes to get blazed.

TELL US, have you ever been to a cannabis event?