Cannabis encounter
Broad turnout expected at GreenGrow Festival next week
Broad turnout expected at GreenGrow Festival in Depew next weekend.
DEPEW — If you see lasers firing over the prairie between Tulsa and Oklahoma City next weekend, don’t worry about UFOs. They’re likely coming from the GreenGrow Festival.
Creek County residents might see the cannabis community’s arrival as an alien invasion, but these folks represent a broad demographic and the only planned flights have to do with Friday afternoon’s helicopter rides.
Organizers expect a broad spectrum of Oklahomans for a weekend of camping, education, product-sampling and fun. It’s the first time in three years the event will be a festival after two years as a trade show.
“You can’t actually get much of a morsel of cannabis culture at just a trade show on a concrete floor with only
Pepsi products and hot dogs. It’s not the same,” said Jay Wright, one of the local entrepreneurs behind the event from the beginning. “It was time to do something for the community. Something fun.”
Along with the helicopters and laser shows, chef Tony Freitas will offer chef features on Saturday and proselytize on
the virtues of the “green and clean” lifestyle to the public.
“Hemp-infused superfoods will go national,” Freitas said. “I see aspects of what we’ve been doing for the last three years that will absolutely go national. It’s life-saving stuff.”
At a pre-event at Relax Park in downtown Oklahoma City on June 3, hundreds attended to get a taste of the festival in advance. On that night, more than $7,000 was raised on behalf of a 3-yearold girl with neuroblastoma.
Kara McCurry, who goes by Kara of Canna, was once a registered nurse and she believes the impact of Oklahoma’s medical marijuana law “is mainly freedom for people who were going to be using the plant anyway.”
Acting as visual communications director for the event, Kara said, “Call that medical, call that something else, but it’s freedom where you’re not going to be arrested for using the medicine that you choose to use.”
Route 66 Event Center, 26101 South 513th West Ave., is the host venue.
“It’s a 150-acre privately owned ven
ue,” Wright said. “It’s got 25-foot fencing all the way around it.”.
Ticket-holders will have overnight camping. The site also has mud volleyball, pond access, a wading pool, a 120foot water slide and Charlie’s Steakhouse.
Both Friday and Saturday night will
be highlighted by Oklahoma CUP Awards, which allows the cannabis community to vote for their favorite brands from consumable products to social-media personalities. Voting for the awards can be done online at greengrowfest.com.
Electronic dance music and lasers will follow. Helicopter rides begin at noon on Friday and run through 6 p.m.
On Sunday, the festival closes with an educational series. Speakers will share information about various aspects of cannabis culture from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Entry begins at 10 a.m. on Sunday and no wristband is required to attend.
OMMA cardholder renewals will be available that day.
Festival goers must be 18 to enter and 21 to consume alcohol, which will be available for purchase. About a dozen different food and beverage concessions will be in attendance, including a COOP beer garden.
No medical card is required to enter, but those who plan to consume cannabis products must have their medical card.
Come and go parking will be available for non-campers and pets are allowed as long as they’re on a leash. Campers will have access to indoor showers, and RV hookups will be available.
OMMA cardholders are welcome to bring their cannabis, but no outside alcohol is allowed. There will be no cannabis dispensaries on site. General admission is $44 for all three days plus a campsite. VIP tickets are $88. For tickets, go online to GreenGrowFEST. com/tickets.