The stage at a previous Cannifest. | File photo.

PREVIOUSLY

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A scheduling conflict, miscommunications and red tape have combined to torpedo plans to relocate the annual Cannifest to Blue Lake this September. 

Stephen Gieder, organizer of the weed-themed music, art and trade gathering, told the Outpost earlier this week that he’s frustrated by bureaucratic hurdles the City of Blue Lake has placed in his path.

Specifically, he cited a requirement that he obtain a Conditional Use Permit, which requires an environmental review pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). 

“The folks in charge [at the city] are gonna make it a nightmare for us,” Gieder said. “I wouldn’t want to do something in the town at this point.” 

Blue Lake City Manager Jennie Short, meanwhile, said the main complication is that Cannifest’s targeted dates of Sept. 11-13 conflict with Mad River Enduro, a mountain bike event that had already secured permits to use Blue Lake’s Perigot Park. 

“I have inquired on alternative dates for his event [Cannifest] and have not received a response,” Short said in an email. “[Gieder] was invited to set up a meeting with the City Planner to discuss the details. To date he has not indicated that he would like to do so.”

Gieder, who organizes Cannifest and other cannabis-related events through his company Humboldt Green Events, LLC, had hoped to collaborate with Dell’Arte International, the world-renowned theater company and fine arts school founded in Blue Lake more than 50 years ago.

Dell’Arte is struggling financially, and its newly appointed leadership viewed Cannifest as a potential fundraiser, one that aligned with their community-building goals. This year’s Cannifest will not include any cannabis sales, licensed distribution or on-site consumption, and the shared hope was to host the event under Dell’Arte’s existing, open-ended Conditional Use Permit for Baduwa’t Festival.

But Gieder surprised city staffers and some residents with a February 1 Instagram post announcing the festival’s “new home in Sunny Blue Lake.”

A few locals forwarded screenshots of the post to City Hall. It was evidently the first time some employees had heard about the Cannifest plans, and it prompted Parks and Recreation Director Emily Wood to leave Gieder a voicemail threatening legal action if he persisted with his relocation plans. 

Much of the conflict appeared to get smoothed over during last week’s Blue Lake City Council meeting. Supporters of Dell’Arte showed up en masse, and the city council ultimately directed staff to move forward with planning for Cannifest. 

But Gieder said this didn’t actually feel like a meaningful step toward facilitating the event. 

“The [council] wasn’t necessarily anti-Cannifest, but they’re also seemingly new and still learning how to make tough community decisions together,” he said. “They weren’t able to give a thumb in either direction, so [they sent the matter] back to the city manager.”

It was during subsequent conversation with staff that Gieder was told he’d need to obtain his own permit and conduct environmental review. He acknowledged that he was unaware of the scheduling conflict with Mad River Enduro until last week’s City Council meeting and said he’d never want to plan Cannifest on top of someone else’s event. 

But ultimately he feels stymied by staff. 

“The city was doing everything they could to try to deter us,” he said. “There’s no way we could plan [Cannifest] and do all the things Blue Lake is requiring to even pull an event off this year. I can’t wait until after I get approval for CEQA to start booking artists. … I guess it was a bad idea to try to bring it to Blue Lake.”

Short said the city has no desire to make things more difficult for Gieder. The intention is ”just to apply the existing requirements to the project he is describing, and to follow the cost recovery protocol in place for this city.”

It might have been possible to give Gieder an exemption to the CEQA requirements if his target date for Cannifest didn’t conflict with Enduro, which is expected to attract 700-1,000 people, Short added.

Artemis Pebdani, who recently became the new chair of Dell’Arte’s board of directors, said the organization is bummed that Cannifest won’t be happening at their venue this year. 

“That said, we’re actually really hopeful about festivals like this going forward,” she told the Outpost via email. “If nothing else, this process opened the door for real conversations about hosting larger events like this in Blue Lake, and that feels like progress. Cannifest 2027, anyone??”

As for this year’s event, Gieder said he has a couple of potential alternative locations, but he’s holding off on making an announcement until he obtains “the full sign-off.”