The stage is set for The Emerald Cup’s grand move south this year with its 18th annual awards show scheduled for the inaugural Green Steet Festival on May 14. 

The announcement is another step on the road to making the cup and all-California encompassing event. While this journey in itself had been known for a while, finally having that finish line in downtown L.A. puts things full-steam ahead for organizers. while competitors look to put the finishing touch on their entries ahead of the deadline on Feb. 11. AutumnLights18HikeEmrldCupjudg 0106 106 01

“The road to the Cup ends at the Green Street Festival,” adds Emerald Cup founder and author, Tim Blake. “This is a truly historic moment for Los Angeles, as they open the doors to consumer cannabis events in Downtown Los Angeles. Following the success of our Harvest Ball, which started our journey to the Cup, we are absolutely thrilled to join the Green Street Festival team, as they bring our community together in the heart of the city and lift our awards to the stage of the largest cannabis market in the world.”

While the event portion of the cup took a hit during the pandemic, the competition that backbones it never lost steam, with judges meeting on zoom in 2021, to hunt down the best cannabis products out there. While the Blakes never threw in the towel, they’re excited to get the awards show back to the level of industry institution it has become over the years. AutumnLights18HikeEmrldCupjudg 0103 103

“This triumphant return of our annual live awards show is our first entrance to Los Angeles and we could not have chosen better partners for this debut. Rama and his team at Green Street have created a powerful ecosystem and they’ve done a wonderful job in creating a platform of engagement for us to shine,” Blake said. “We’re eager to unify our northern and southern communities as we raise the Cup and recognize the best of California Cannabis.” 

Gary Vaynerchuk and Rama Mayo’s Green Street Festival share a name with the B2B cannabis fortress the pair has built out over the past two years. The 67,000-square-foot Green Street building is a part super ecosystem for collaboration and part full-time rendition of Vaynerchuk and Mayo’s previous work with Hall of Flowers — everything under the roof generally targeted at keeping L.A. the center of the weed universe and making the most of it for the brands they’re working with.

“Cannabis will always be the headliner,” Mayo said when announcing The Emerald Cup’s awards show’s new destination. “There is no greater recognized symbol of excellence in the weed nation than the Emerald Cup Awards, and we are thrilled to share the stage at our inaugural event with them in this partnership.”

Mayo went on to note the obvious fact that the collaboration represents two of the bigger name survivors in cannabis coming together to help continue to push the bar. As rough as 2021 was on the game, you didn’t hear anyone pointing to the cup or Hall of Flowers as evidence of that fact. Then obviously, the recent launch of the Green Street Building with its similar ethos to all of that only adds to the excitement.

“Our union is the convergence of two massive powerhouse entities in the culture of cannabis. Emerald Cup delivers on the heritage and community that enhances the experience that we are manifesting at Green Street Festival,” Mayo noted. “Gary, our team, and I could not be more proud to partner with their organization, as we bring the best cannabis, food and music to one place.”  

We’ll do a full dive into the Green Street Festival as a whole, as it approaches. 

The Emerald Cup also announced that the judges this year will include:

 

Flowers

  • Alec Dixon
  • Bill Levers
  • Chang Weisberg
  • Eric Brandstad
  • Guy Rocourt
  • Jason Beck
  • Jessica Hwang
  • Joe Sullivan
  • Josh Bubeck
  • Josh Preibe
  • Michelle Underwood
  • Marv Levin
  • Mathieu St Germain
  • Matt “Sensei” Chiu
  • Mike “Majix” Yuen
  • Nicole Powell
  • Reese Benton
  • Shiloh Massive
  • Swami Chaitanya

 

Pre-Rolls

  • Demetrius Daniels
  • Justin Shively
  • KC Santana
  • Keith Stevenson
  • Leor “Hopelord” Feit “Talking Terps”
  • Lindsey Bartlett
  • Roxanne Dennant
  • Sam Edwards
  • Timo Espinoza

 

Solventless Concentrate

  • Ashley Gaertig
  • Boris Shcharansky
  • Dorian Schraner
  • Elise McRoberts
  • Flora Bermudez
  • Jenny-Beth Dills
  • Jimi Devine
  • Maya Elisabeth
  • Roger Volodarsky
  • The Dank Duchess
  • Tony Pitts

 

Hydrocarbon

  • Abdullah Saeed
  • April Black
  • Bobby Black
  • Brian Malin
  • Dale Sky Jones
  • Ishta Muhammed
  • Jason Pinsky
  • Kevin Chapman
  • Sarah Bergman
  • Ted Lidie
  • Terryn Buxton
  • Todd McCormick

 

Cartridge

  • David Hua
  • El Rock
  • Etienne Fontan
  • Joshua Wurzer
  • Lauren Mendelson
  • Luna Stower
  • Michael Beck
  • Tammy Pettigrew
  • Terrence Mines

 

Edible

  • A.C. Moon
  • Carmeron Hatten
  • David Bienenstock
  • Donnie Ortega Madden
  • Jeff Levers
  • Keiko Beatie
  • Manndie Tingler
  • Melissa Anaclerio
  • Nicholas Torres
  • Ricardo Willis

 

Alternative Cannabinoids (including CBD CBG CBN, etc)

  • Andres Rigal
  • Chaney Turner
  • Chelsea Lucich
  • Jazz Dixon
  • Su Summerford
  • Tawnie Scarborough
  • Whitney Beatty

 

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