Industry Events
Celebrate the Spoils of Harvest at the Emerald Cup
The Emerald Cup began more than a decade ago as an underground gathering for growers.
What sets aside California cannabis festivals from events held in other hotspots throughout the nation, even those that have legalized adult-use such as Colorado and Washington state, is the physical presence of the herb for sale. In the coming weeks, those lucky enough to be within the medicating area within the 2015 Emerald Cup will get the opportunity to taste and purchase outdoor, organic cannabis produced by some of the state’s best cultivators. The buds showcased at this two-day, post-harvest celebration fill large mason jars to the brim, bubbling over with resinous trichomes and bursting with heavy terpenes, but these nugs are more than an incredible smoke – they also stand as a symbol of sustainable cannabis cultivation practices within the nation’s largest marijuana marketplace.
“It’s a new day, a new era, and it’s time for everyone to come together to build a bridge to the ‘everything is possible’ Cannabis World we’re all going to be living in,” event founder Tim Blake wrote in his 2015 introduction.
The Emerald Cup began more than a decade ago as an underground gathering for growers. The farmers within the Emerald Triangle, the three counties of Mendocino, Humboldt and Trinity, opened their event to the public in 2013. Like many cannabis-friendly events, the Emerald Cup features a lineup of speaker panels, music and a cannabis judging competition. What sets the cup aside from other similar functions across the nation, however, is the exclusive spotlight on outdoor cannabis.
Last year’s event drew 900 entries in its flowers competition. In order to enter the competition, all the medicine is lab-tested and must be grown naturally under the sun. This year’s event will also showcase a new competition categories for solventless concentrates such as ice-water hash, rosin and dry-sieve. The top 20 flowers earn awards.
While the Emerald Cup is truly a place for cannabis enthusiasts of all ages to gather in a comfortable, friendly environment, it will be those within the Proposition 215 Zone that will be the best able to explore the bounties of the 2015 harvest. Here cannabis farmers follow the model of the farm-to-table movement and offer samples of their top-shelf selections for sale.
Join the staff of Cannabis Now Magazine for the smoke session. To purchase tickets for the event, set for Dec. 12 and 13 at the Santa Rosa County Fairgrounds, click here.
