“We Brought the Weed to the Farm”: CannaBLISS Festival in the Catskills Debuts in Delhi

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A different shade of green has hit the Catskills’ mountainous terrain: cannabis. A new festival called CannaBLISS in the Catskills held its first-ever event from July 26–27 at Maple Shade Farm in Delhi, N.Y.

“It’s been a blast. I’ve been getting high and talking to all these great people… we’ve been having the best time,” said one attendee.

CannaBLISS event organizer Joann Kudrewicz said Maple Shade owners, Abby and Jay Wilson, wanted to try something new this year. Although their 200-acre farm is often used for weddings and music festivals, they approached Kudrewicz with the idea of a cannabis-focused event.

“We brought the weed to the farm, basically,” she said. Kudrewicz is also the co-founder of Ravens View Genetics, a cannabis cultivator in Delhi specializing in full-bodied cannabis strains.

New York State legalized recreational cannabis in March 2021 through the Marihuana Regulation & Taxation Act. The law made it legal for adults 21 and older to carry up to three ounces of marijuana. Pro-legalization advocates celebrated the law as a tool that would help reduce cannabis arrests, which disproportionately affect people of color.

But establishing a business in the newly regulated industry has been challenging, says Kudrewicz.

She and several hundred other cannabis cultivators were the first to obtain a grower’s license under a new state provisional license in 2021. Kudrewicz and her partner hoped the early start would have given their business a market advantage, but she said the plan backfired: it took New York state nearly two years to open up its first legal dispensary.

“We alone grew 2,000 pounds of smokable flour in two years with no place to sell it. For those of us who got in early, we accumulated quite a bit of debt,” she said.

New York has made some progress since legalization: first with allowing licensed cannabis growers to sell their products at cannabis showcases, then finally opening the first big wave of dispensaries in 2024. But some critics say New York State’s Office of Cannabis Management’s slow and, at times, erroneous rollout has hampered the industry’s growth.

On July 28, the state’s cannabis office told more than 100 dispensaries they would have to shut down because the state incorrectly measured their proximity to churches or schools. The error impacts eight current businesses and two pending applications in the Mid-Hudson Valley, according to the state office.

Still, Kudrewicz remains hopeful. “We’re having to zig zag and be flexible… but we’re at the forefront of building an industry that will be the greatest in New York State [and] in the world, probably,” she said.

A diverse lineup of growers, cannabis lovers, and canna-curious

The event drew in hundreds from across New York State and even in neighboring states, including New Jersey and Pennsylvania, says Kudrewicz. From organic cannabis farmer Sam Ludwig of Aster Farms to Jocelyn Miner of JBM Jewelry, the two-day festival offered a vendor showcase for both the seasoned cannabis experts and attendees less familiar with the plant.

“Just being in such a mainstream location, it introduces a lot of folks who are maybe more curious about cannabis and would never normally go to a cannabis show, that they would come to this venue and explore more about it,” said Anne Forkutza, strategic partnerships spokesperson for seed-to-sale software company BioTrack.

One workshop, led by SUNY Delhi adjunct instructor Dianna Dixon, covered the science behind various cannabis products and the risks of unclear labeling, especially when products are infused with other substances.

“Caffeine and melatonin are my hugest concerns,” said Dixon. “There are people who are sensitive to those two things, and they’re not expecting that.”

Cannabis-related ER visits in New York spiked nearly 57% in the first two years recreational cannabis was legalized compared to prohibition years, according to state data.

Consuming the plant responsibly is important to enjoying the high, says Kudrewicz, adding that safety must start with educating the consumer. “Truly having a legal market where everything is tested in a lab that’s New York State licensed is the way that we maintain safety and health.”

As New York plans to open more dispensaries in an increasingly competitive market, Kudrewicz says events like CannaBLISS will be even more important for bringing the cannabis community together.

“That’s what cannabis is about, right? It’s about all people coming together, sharing some product and having a good time, music, food,” said Kudrewicz. “Things like this offer us the opportunity to come together with others like us and really share in something that’s communal and feels good.”

Image: A large white box with a cannabis plant and other shapes painted on stands on top of a patch of grass (Photo Credit: Kimberly Izar)