Grass Lands sign is seen during the 2018 Outside Lands Music And Arts Festival at Golden Gate Park on Aug. 10, 2018 in San Francisco.
Outside Lands in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park to green light flower and concentrate use.
Less than two years after recreational legalization in California, legal marijuana sales and consumption will be allowed at Outside Lands in San Francisco, a historic first for a major festival in the state.
Some limited sales and consumption have happened at past California events, including the Emerald Cup, the first cannabis event to allow the sale of marijuana in the state. The annual event at the Sonoma County fairgrounds last December generated more than $4.2 million in tax revenue for Sonoma county, supporting more than 200 jobs with $7.1 million in labor income.
The city of Santa Rosa had to pass a „cannabis ordinance as a way to ‘normalize’ the industry within our economy,” explained the city’s Mayor Tom Schwedhelm in a statement to Bilboard provided by Emerald Cup organizers. In September, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation making it easier for counties to provide temporary permits for events with recreational use and in May, the Northern Nights festival became one of the first music festivals to legally allow cannabis sales and consumption in its 21+ Tree Lounge area.
Bringing cannabis to Outside Lands, the highest-grossing festival in the U.S. reported to Billboard Boxscore in 2018, is a major milestone and was approved by regulators just two days before the opening of the festival produced by Another Planet Entertainment.
Cannabis company Moxie will sell single-use cannabis dabs for sale for $10 at Grass Lands, Outside Lands’ fenced-off cannabis section, while KIVA will be offering enhanced chocolates, gummies and mints. In total, 28 cannabis companies and will participate in Grass Lands which will have its own curated stage for comedy, music and cooking. San Francisco’s new regulations governing temporary cannabis sales restrict consumption and sales outside of the Grass Lands area, which will be hidden from visibility from festival goers.