Snoop Dogg, Santigold, More To Perform At Emerald Cup

Courtesy of Emerald Cup – Emerald Cup 2019
The poster for Northern California cannabis competition Emerald Cup, which is scheduled for Dec. 14-15.

Major outdoor cannabis competition Emerald Cup announced the programming for its 16th annual event, scheduled for Dec. 14-15, on Thursday.

Santigold, Steel Pulse, The Polish Ambassador, The Expendables, The Movement and Con Brio will all perform at the event, which will take place at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa, Calif., located in wine country about an hour north of San Francisco. So will Snoop Dogg, under his alias DJ Snoopadelic.

The producers of Northern Nights Festival, the electronic music event held in Piercy, Calif. – situated among Humboldt, Mendocino and Trinity Counties, which together form the cannabis-producing region known as the Emerald Triangle from which Emerald Cup takes its name – will curate the programming at Emerald Cup’s Redwood Stage.

Starr Hill Presents, the promotion company created by Red Light Management founder Coran Capshaw, announced a partnership with Emerald Cup in April 2018; around the same time, Starr Hill and Emerald Cup teamed to enhance Northern Nights. Red Light’s Jim Lewi heads up the organization’s cannabis-related ventures, and Emerald Cup falls under his purview.

“There’s no reason why any concert or any event shouldn’t be able to pull a license and sell cannabis products at their shows,” Lewi told Pollstar in an August story about the expansion of cannabis into the live music sphere. “I can’t speak to everyone’s event, but I can speak to the Emerald Cup. … In the past three years that I’ve been involved in the Emerald Cup, we’ve had zero arrests. One trip to the hospital. No complaints from neighbors. I think that as education continues, people will lean more on cannabis, cannabis-infused products, and less on alcohol.”

The Emerald Cup also announced additional programming beyond music. Speakers will include former NBA player and cannabis advocate Matt Barnes, Dr. Bronner’s CEO David Bronner, cannabis entrepreneurs Wanda James and Santa Rosa Mayor Tom Schwedhelm.

Meanwhile, entertainer and entrepreneur Tommy Chong will receive the Willie Nelson Award, which is Emerald Cup’s lifetime achievement honor.

“We look forward to welcoming everyone to what promises to be the best Emerald Cup to-date,” Emerald Cup founder Tim Blake said in a statement. “It is truly a beautiful moment in the history of cannabis culture. After enduring the challenges of legalization in California over the last two years, and three years of enduring devastating fires, rain and power outages, the industry has begun to stabilize and this year’s event is an opportunity for our community to celebrate this year’s hard work together.” 

Weekend passes are currently on sale for $105 via Emerald Cup’s website, where more information about the event is also available.