Kind cannabis showcase postponed
KIND will not be returning to Desert Hot Springs this fall.
Doria Wilms, Assistant City Manager and Public Information Officer for Desert Hot Springs, notified News Channel 3 about the change on Friday.
“The Kind Showcase Cannabis Industry Convention has been postponed,” Wilms wrote. “We look forward to seeing you in March at the Kind Music Festival.”
Mike Tyson’s cannabis-friendly event’s second iteration was originally slated for October 10-12.
Kind first came to the 420-acre Tyson Ranch in Desert Hot Springs on February 23. The event drew crowds, and the support of Desert Hot Springs Mayor Scott Matas.
“We didn’t know how a 5000 person event would pan out, and they did a fantastic job,” Matas said in August.
Matas said festival attendees helped bolster business in the community
“People were filling up our hotels, they were eating in our restaurants. It was a late evening event so people stayed overnight,” he said.
Matas may have been vocal in his support of the event, but not all locals, including cannabis business owners, were fully behind it.
Elisha Parana, general manager at Green Leaf Wellness told News Channel 3 that, while she acknowledges the festival for helping de-stigmatize cannabis use, she thinks that a greater focus should be placed on the local green economy.
“I don’t agree with how much emphasis we’re putting on something that’s not here all the time. That hasn’t been here consistently to benefit our companies, like out 13 licensed dispensaries that have been paying 10 percent gross sales tax to the city,” she said.
At the time of this publication, theshowcaseevent.com/ still listed the event as being set for November.
The event’s website projected an showcase attendance of over 25,000 people.
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