As the clock struck 4:20 p.m., thousands of festival-goers gathered in the outdoor courtyard at the Santa Rosa Fairgrounds to set a world record for the most joints lit at one time. OCB Rolling Papers supplied the papers and crowds lit their joints in a celebration of c*nn*bis culture.
On the other side of the courtyard, a wall of hazy smoke and people surrounded the Khalifa Kush tent for a chance to smoke out with rapper Wiz Khalifa, who tossed out free joints into the crowd while motorcyclists zoomed around in a ball of death in the carnival ride zone.
The best place to to satiate foodie-level munchies was inside the Taste of Sonoma Culinary Experience where Chef Telmo Faria served his famous fried chicken at a family-style all-day banquet hall, Chef Preeti Mistry made Tikka Mac n Cheese, Chef Chris Cosentino passed out tastes w**d ice cream along with shards of meringue shatter, and Chef Wendy Zeng demonstrated a taste of her hometown with spicy Sichuan garlic noodles.
Back in March, I shared trends and an inside look from Hall of Flowers Ventura. This show was a different animal. The fairground and halls were full, bustling, energetic, abundant, and overwhelming. There were art exhibitions, games, rides, meaningful activities, noticeably less scantily clad booth babes, multiple speaker stages, lounges, and plenty of food and drink.
In this Issue:
Gardening Club
Highlights from Hall of Flowers
Inside the Taste of Sonoma Culinary Experience
Hot Take
My biggest takeaway from this show: There needs to be more w**d experiences like this, that bring together the c*nn*bis industry, connoisseurs, and enthusiasts to partake, have fun, and engage with their favorite brands outside of dispensary walls.
It doesn't matter who smokes the same or what side of the w**d spectrum you’re on, there’s something for everyone to discover and enjoy.
🎟️ Definitely plan to get an early bird ticket to the next Hall of Flowers Festival, because this experience is worth it!
🌟 I’ll give paid subscribers a heads up when tickets go on sale next year, PLUS an itinerary of where to stay and how to make the most of your trip.
THANKS TO ILGM FOR UNLOCKING THIS POST FOR ALL SUBSCRIBERS
Gardening Club
I’m planning for an early/mid-October harvest, my outdoor sun-grown plants needed a few extra weeks to mature. Look at these fat buds. They smell so fragrant and loud!
I stopped to visit ILGM (I ❤️ Growing Mar*j*ana) at Hall of Flowers to learn some gardening tips and score a few seeds. If you’re looking for specific cultivars and strains, ILGM has a huge library of seeds and resources for home gardeners of every experience level. One of the world’s leading seed companies that ships to all 50 U.S. states, they offer beginner mixes, feminized seeds, grow kits, and autoflower seeds that are small and ready to harvest in a few weeks.
Don’t know where to start? Check out their Grow Guides. Their seeds are also categorized by what grows best by state and growing climate. Whether you’re growing indoor or outdoor, their experts are happy to help you on your growing journey.
At the ILGM Hall of Flowers booth, I chatted with their expert grower Randy, met Weavers, a blunt artist who rolls elaborate custom pieces, got to meet influencer Anjela aka Koala Puffs irl, and we smoked outrageously purple bud out of a bamboo bong from Terra Tokes.
Highlights from Hall of Flowers Santa Rosa
This festival was big, and jam-packed with programming and activities. I was running around on Day 1 and Day 2 taking it all in, and bringing a little Mogu Magu magic on stage with Chef Wendy Zeng at the Taste of Sonoma culinary experience.
I definitely didn’t catch everything, but here are a few memorable moments that stood out at this year’s Hall of Flowers Santa Rosa 2024 festival:
Smell fresh cut Whitethorn Rose from Huckleberry Hill Farms. The farm and strain that’s sweeping awards with its complex terpene profile and aromatic nose with sweet earthy berries, lavender, and cream.
Inside Heirbloom by CBX. A wildly creative immersive experience, it felt like stepping inside an Heirbloom box into a magical woodland camping trip. Can’t wait to try the new hand-crafted rosin chocolates! I got a box of Orange Crush ChronBons in Peanut Butter & Jelly. Review coming soon to Budist!
Spicy Arugula, Sonoma Hills Farm x Chef Chris Cosentino collab. A four-pack of prerolls with a 1:1:1 blend of T*C, CBG, and CBD. Exactly what my aching feet and body needed. The packaging design with adorable piggy bicycle chef is a 10 out of 10.
Kanha Minis, little chocolate covered bites of joy. Finally got my hands on these! A tiny tube of chocolate coated bites, like M&Ms but better and gets you high. Budist review coming soon!
Game Room & Carnival Rides. An entire hall and outdoor area dedicated to fun, play, and games. Unleashed my inner child playing Dance Dance Revolution, pinball, and bong ring toss. The ferris wheel spun faster and went on much longer than my poor little high brain could handle, but the rickety-looking giant swing seemed like a great idea.
Forbidden Horchata at the coffee cart. Horchata made from wild rice so the color turns purple. Refreshing and a wonderful take on a classic drink.
Playing “Where’s Lauren?” with Lost Farm. Kiva didn’t have a booth but it didn’t stop them from participating in the fun. Like a “Where’s Waldo” game, I had to spot Lauren from their team and say, “One and done” to get a sample of the new Lost Farm 100 gummy.
Celebration of Women in W**d. Loved the interactive photo wall celebrating women in w**d alongside a gorgeous photo exhibit “The Farm & The Feminine,” which shows portraits of women farmers in Humboldt.
Gratitude, a group art exhibit. Curated by Freedom Grow, featuring work from non-violent people incarcerated for c*nn*bis.
Get To The Bag. An exhibition of c*nn*bis mylar bags that contains over 1,000 pieces of donated art from collectors all over the country.
Smoke Out with Wiz Khalifa. I was outside looking at the massive crowd gathered around the Khalifa Kush tent and staring in awe at this beautiful scene. This is a pretty damn cool intimate, unique experience for fans.
The NOPE List:
When you see things you can’t unsee. Who thought of this and why?
Color sprayed w**d nugs. Color me intrigued, I couldn’t resist asking questions when I saw the pastel candy colored nugs. The guy at the booth told me they’re sprayed with a proprietary coating and wouldn’t tell me what was in it. Yuck. Snowballs, T*Ca diamond dusted are an abomination to the plant. Don’t put that in your lungs, it’s not good for you.
One-time use portable dabs. A tiny plastic e-rig the size of a kazoo that holds a single dab that users can smoke and then discard. Haven’t we created enough waste? This product feels unnecessary.
Taste of Sonoma Culinary Experience
This is where I wanted to spend all my time. Not only because there were unending trays of fried chicken, but because this is where the rockstar chefs and foodies were hanging out.
Hosted by Sonoma Hills Farms in partnership with Jane Dispensary, CCell, Humboldt Seed Company, Treez, and curated pairings by Budist, the culinary experience brought together food festival level programming, chef demos, and conversations at the intersection of culinary and c*nn*bis. I’m sad I missed a bunch of panels and tastings with Jamie Evans, Carly Fisher, Ellen Holland, and countless others. But alas, this is a FESTIVAL one can’t see and do everything, you have to choose.
HIGH-lights from the culinary stage:
Chef Chris Cosentino’s w**d ice cream. A creamy pale white ice cream Infused with White CBG served with a crispy meringue shatter flecked with tiny bits of green leaf, the concoction was a unique flavor bomb that tasted like chewing on a fresh bud plucked from the field. A tiny taste was enough, I couldn’t eat an entire scoop and the flavor was a bit too much even for me, but it was a creative interpretation and culinary experiment worth trying.
Fried chicken family meal by Chef Telmo Faria. Perfectly crispy and juicy, along with sides of crunchy lettuce salad with peaches and tomatoes, potato salad, and cornbread with honey butter. I lost track of how many pieces I ate.
Fried Bologna sandwiches from Turkey and the Wolf. I’m tired, exhausted, too high and chef hands me a crispy, golden pan-griddled bologna sandwich. F*ck yea.
Tikka Mac n Cheese with Chef Preeti Mistry. I’m so mad I didn’t get to taste this but Chef Preeti schooling the crowd on the fact that a black chef created mac n cheese was awesome to hear. Here’s her recipe for Tikka Masala Mac & Cheese.
Pairing menu curated by Budist. Every dish and chef demo was paired with a special something-something from Sonoma Hills Farm along with dedicated c*nn*bis sommeliers.
Pink Jesus Hash Hole. Just when you thought Pink Jesus couldn’t get better, a collab with Fire King to make Pink Jesus hash and a hash hole is the ultimate connoisseur’s experience. Cornerstone Wellness is carrying them, if you want to give this baby a try.
Pink Jesus Flower Wall. Pay homage to Pink Jesus at the massive flower wall installation made with dried flowers and hemp from Sonoma Hills Farm. An entire season of harvesting and drying farm cut flowers went into this beauty.
Jar of Herbs de Petaluma Hemp Salt. Chef Chris Cosentino’s blend of sea salt, c*nn*bis sativa, coriander, citrus, and fennel pollen. I can’t wait to cook with this.
What it’s like on stage making Sichuan Garlic Noodles with Chef Wendy Zeng
A beautiful blur. It wasn’t just a cooking demo, it was an exploration of culture, flavor, friendship, community and healing. I watched Wendy weave memories and flavors of her hometown of Chengdu, defining her point of view as a chef, as showed the crowd how to make the complex layered aromas and flavors for her favorite dish.
We took the audience through the Sonoma Hills Farm Spicy Arugula c*nn*bis pairing with descriptive flavor, aroma, and effects; gave a lesson on the history of c*nn*bis in ancient Asia and its scientific connection to garlic and spicy receptors in our bodies; and invited them in to imagine the unreal farm to table world that she and her husband Wes have built.
As we described our recent lantern-filled Mahjong Tea Garden gathering and explained why it’s important to create new associations and traditions for ourselves, I looked out over the crowd and saw gleaming happy faces dripping in noodles.
It was live storytelling at its finest and I loved every minute of it. Our culinary demo was definitely recorded. When I get the footage, I’ll share it with you here along with a recipe for those Spicy Garlic Noodles.
This list is barely the tip of the iceberg of all the fun, rad things I saw and experienced at the Hall of Flowers Festival. Substack says I’ve maxed the size limit of this post.
XOXO, Christina W.
Inside Hall of Flowers Festival 2024