For nearly a quarter of a century, Seattle HEMPFEST® has been a home base for the cannabis community. Since the beginning of our social experiment to raise consciousness and spread knowledge of the many benefits and uses of Hemp and Cannabis, Hempfest has relied on the generous support of our many volunteers to do the heavy lifting, and our hundreds of vendors, and sponsors who literally pay the freight.
The nation and the cannabis community have evolved enormously over the years, and now that legalization has unveiled the enormity of the economic opportunity, the marketplace is accelerating at an unprecedented speed.
A year ago when we planned our first Hempfest Business Show, we envisioned a separate b2b event away from the main show at the Seattle Center. In the last several months however, cannabis trade shows have popped up all over the country saturating the market’s appetite for yet another show.
A year ago, cannabis businesses needed to go off on their own to talk shop. Now they are looking to take that talk to the main stage.
After speaking with our sponsors and vendors, and after learning of city placement of a 1,000 foot Waterslide on Mercer Street (directly in front of the venue, closing Mercer that day) the same weekend, we’ve decided to integrate the Hempfest Business Show into Hempfest. We’ll still have a VIP Industry Gala at the Space Needle.
We believe that that the second phase of the Hemp revolution will be economic, and that our mission will be to take our conversations from preaching the gospel to the choir, to taking our evangelism to the mainstream.
Our media advisory about these changes is as follows:
Seattle HEMPFEST® Events Announces Merging its Planned Business Show into its Protestival and Business Mixer
In response to the addition of the Seattle Waterslide on Mercer Street, and market demand for a less fragmented cannabis event map and schedule, Seattle Hempfest has decided to merge its Business offer with its already successful Protestival, and new Business Mixer at the Space Needle Skyline Level.
“Business sponsors and exhibitors will be featured at our Protestival, where the larger community and audience will be at its peak, and more private business discussions will be accommodated at our Business Mixer to provide the best business experience to our partners,” said Vivian McPeak, Seattle Hempfest’s executive director.
“The new Seattle Waterslide on Mercer Street limits access to the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall, on the same day of the Hempfest Business event,” said McPeak. “While at the same time, feedback from event participants and the broader cannabis industry shows a demand for a less fragmented event map and schedule, especially given the saturation of cannabis related business expos in our region.”
“Nobody wants to be isolated in a hard-to-reach area while everybody else is partying a few blocks away,” said McPeak. “So we decided to maximize our business partners reach and experience by relocating the Exhibition Hall activities to our existing and successful Protestival, and our new dedicated Business Mixer at the skyline level of the Seattle Space Needle. This should make the whole experience better for businesses and attendees alike: the big trade show with massive audience at the festival, and the dedicated business talks and networking at the Mixer.”
Vending, sponsorship, and volunteer opportunities for the Seattle HEMPFEST Protestival are still available, and more information can be found at hempfest.org
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