PALM SPRINGS, Calif.—Let’s clear up some likely misconceptions about what happens at a cannabis convention: No, they do not shoot weed out of T-shirt canons. And they don’t give it away for free—that’s illegal, even in the most permissive states.
But doling out generous samples for $3 a pop? Producing cumulous clouds of smoke that would make Snoop Dogg proud?
Those, along with plentiful signs of where the legal cannabis business will continue to grow in 2022, were part of the landscape at the Hall of Flowers show held this month in Palm Springs. The event, launched in 2018, drew 3,700 attendees and 450 brands as it made its debut in the Los Angeles-adjacent desert city that has been leaning heavily (and successfully) into cannabis as a pillar of its tourism marketing.
Most of the foot traffic early in the two-day event came from retail buyers who were getting a read on products from legacy players in the space, like CannaCraft, Pax and Curaleaf, in addition to looking for the next breakout brand and the hottest trends.
As Adweek’s senior editor on the cannabis beat, I was on hand with largely the same goals, as the industry cautiously returns to in-person events and, per BDSA, wends its way to a $25 billion year in legal U.S. sales.
Sonoma County’s CannaCraft had an outdoor display at Hall of Flowers.
Read on for some of the conference high-lights, which featured an incongruous lack of food options for a heavy-toking crowd and an abundance of stylish swag that’s turning some cannabis purveyors into fashion merchants.
Spotted on site: Garcia Hand Pick’s groovy Airstream trailer—her name is Bertha—fresh off a (long, strange?) cross-country trip and former NFL running back Ricky Williams touting his new Highsman brand, the name being a twist on the Heisman trophy he won in 1998.
SOURCE : adweek
