By Benjie Cooper
IG: @nuglifenews
YouTube: Lucid’s Vlog
California cannabis culture has produced a wide variety of events with an even broader spectrum of products for sale within. But among the vast array of product-filled, marijuana-motivated festivals that have popped up over the years, there is one that has established itself as a standout player in the west coast sesh scene.
A hot and slightly hazy San Bernadino Saturday afternoon welcomed hundreds of vendors and around 80,000 cannabis-loving attendees to the fifth installment of Southern California’s mammoth marijuana event; Dr. K’s Kushstock Festival.
The Inland Empire’s NOS Events Center once again served as host venue for the day-long event filled with music, food, live entertainment, and a wealth of cannabis products in virtually every variety available to the modern marijuana consumer.
Admission to Kushstock is free, but one is not guaranteed access to areas of the event where cannabis products are being sold without a doctor’s recommendation. Those who came to the festival without a recommendation were able to obtain one from tables set up inside on the grassy area just inside the festival’s front entrance and on the lot between the Citrus and Damus buildings.
Medicated Popcorn At Kushstock
The NOS Center’s fountain-ed pond greeted people at the front gates in the first general-access area of the Kushstock event, surrounded by a variety of vendors selling non-medicated items such as artwork and pins. Artists armed with cans of spray paint worked throughout the day, creating a live art wall on a series of blank canvases that hung from the fence separating the area from the outdoor medicating section.
With the Saturday being as warm as it was, many attendees took advantage of the shade beneath the trees near the pond throughout the day. A stage hosted by Cannabis Talk 101 provided music, giveaways, and other entertainment to the crowds relaxing on the grass there.
A ways further into the general-access area, Daz & Kurupt, Baby Bash, Frost, and others performed for the crowds from the main stage for the duration of the festival. Live music acts including Irie Nationz International, Rootikal Yard, Medusa Mayhem, and Los Munchies also performed on other stages located in the medicating areas.
Mini-performances by various rappers and other musical acts could also be found at some of the individual vendor booths as well.
In the section between Citrus and Damus, skaters could be found rolling up and down quarter-pipes and grinding on rails in a mini pop-up skate park while wrestlers grappled and tossed each other around in a nearby ring.
Kushstock Showcases Glass Artists
Just to the left side of the main stage, a row of booths housed numerous glass blowers who showcased their artistic skills with live demonstrations and sold an assortment of decorative pieces as well as other creations intended for cannabis consumption.
Various food vendors set up shop near the Damus building, offering a selection of non-medicated food and drink items while nearby booths sold alcoholic beverages.
A plain tan van sat parked at the entrance to the outdoor medicating section by the main stage. The vehicle’s owner revealed that it was an authentic DEA surveillance van that he’d acquired which had also been used in the movie Narcos.
Former DEA Van
Far-removed from any anti-drug activities the van might have been a part of in the past, the occupants of the vehicle were dabbing in it Saturday.
Within the confines of the three medicating areas located outside, and in the Citrus and Damus venues, attendees were met with seemingly endless rows of vendors offering an immense selection of cannabis flowers, concentrates, edibles, tinctures, topicals, clothing, and accessories.
A visit to the Kushstock Festival is guaranteed to bring you face to face with familiar faces from the music world both on and off the stage. Sen Dog from Cypress Hill and Pony Boy from Los Marijuanos were in attendance, greeting fans, taking pictures, and promoting their brands.
Johnny Richter from the Kottonmouth Kings/Kingspade also made an appearance in the evening at the Top Krop Pharms booth.
In the evening, Kushstock founder Dr. K along with a group of others joined Las Vegas rapper Dizzy Wright on the main stage during his set with a few product-filled, cannabis leaf piñatas in their hands which were then tossed to the eager waiting crowd below.
The next Kushstock Festival is scheduled to open its gates at noon on October 13 at the NOS Event Center.
Kushstock was my first festival, I had the time of my life!!!!