The Saturday morning sun beat down on the top of our bus making its way up the highway to Santa Rosa. The early weather report predicted rain, but any rain clouds had burned off as we pulled into the bus terminal. We were off to Sonoma County Fairgrounds for another edition of Hall of Flowers, one of the biggest trade fairs and cannabis festivals of the year.
This year, Hall of Flowers was held in Santa Rosa on September 20-21. It originally began as a way for local growers to show off their new products for the year to buyers for dispensaries and the press. It became so popular that others sprung up in Toronto and Southern California among others. This year, there were major changes afoot. The first day was still for the industry folks to meet up with the buyers, but now, the second day was open to the public with a lot of new stuff added.
What new stuff, you may ask? Carnival rides, more tents and hangout areas, an arcade of games, a movie experience, musical performances, expanded food choices including a building devoted to fried chicken by Sonoma Hills Farm. It was a lot to take in, and great additions.
The basic setup was still the same. There were two exhibit halls full of cannabis companies showing off their wares. You go from booth to booth meeting companies and their reps to talk about weed. Commerce was the name of the game this year, so you could buy weed from pretty much every booth. Most eighths were $35-40 and pre-rolls were $7-10. There were limited choices at the booth but everything was around a 25% to a 30% off dispensary prices. There were also several booths advertising cheaper weed, so there were bargains to hunt for.
I made my way around the booths, greeting people I knew. There were a lot of new brands showing off with big displays to get attention like a big gas station setup and a big “Hollyweed” sign. Dabwoods had a fun shooting range game to win prizes. There were rolling papers, stickers, lanyards and lighters to grab everywhere. The gag of the day were blow-up joints from Raw and a couple of other companies. They were everywhere strapped on people’s backs like samurai swords.
Making my way outside into the ultra sunny day, there was a court full of stand alone displays with giant blow-up dolls and games like Cornhole. At one end of the court, there were breakdancers from Smoakland performing to an eager crowd. Nearby, the Puffco booth was full of people dabbing on their amazing products. Moving on. I passed water stations, a tent for the various speakers throughout the day, a booth teaching people how to roll joints, and a food truck court.
I arced around the grounds visiting the new carnival rides area which also had an art exhibit and a performance area with a DJ and lots of bean bag chairs. Then I hit the building showing movies and saw a reel of cannabis represented throughout history in movies on a loop. Next to it was a room with a big cannabis plant in the middle with lights and wires connected. There were chairs around it and headphones. The music in the headphones was created by the cannabis plants’ reaction to the stimuli…I think? One gentleman who was there when I was there was really into that.
As always, I visited Alien Labs first and picked up an eighth of their Zangria strain which is a wonderful blend of the Girl Scout Cookie and Z strains as well as one of all their pre-rolls. They were all fantastic. I highly recommend the Zangria.
The big news of the day was that Manzanita Naturals had partnered with 21st Amendment Brewery to create a new cannabis-infused beverage called Hella High which comes in three flavors, Watermelon, Budd Orange, and Mango. They come in 10mg and 100mg cans. Another alcohol company makes a cannabis presence joining Lagunitas and Pabst Blue Ribbon. There will be more to follow, I’m sure.
Manzanita Naturals is also creating a whole new line of infused mocktails, so be sure and drop by Mission Cannabis Club every 2nd and 4th Saturday of the month for BONG-O BINGO, drag cannabis bingo, to try their new concoctions. You can also win a lot of weed!
Sonoma Hills Farm had a whole building to feed people fried chicken and show off what their farm has to offer beyond cannabis. After all, their roots go back to The French Laundry.
I had a wonderful time at Hall of Flowers 2024. It had the same vibe as the old Hall of Flowers, and there was more of it. I could tell people were really enjoying themselves and shopping. Some people had so many bags of weed it looked like they had been on a shopping spree in a mall all day!
What are they growing for next one? I look forward to finding out, and now that the public can attend, everyone should consider making the trip up to Santa Rosa to experience Hall of Flowers and all it has to offer.
It’s time to light up!
