The event will be held this weekend at the Jackson County Expo
Now in its sixth year, the annual Hemp & Cannabis Fair has become a popular event in Oregon. The fair is back this Saturday and Sunday and is expected to see over 100 vendors, 2,500 attendees and 16 major speakers all gather together to show their support for the thriving industry.
The event will be held at the Jackson County Expo and is free to the public. It is produced by Ashland resident Naomi Forkash and is billed as a one-stop “house and garden show” for everything cannabis. Forkash says, “It’s the opportunity to connect on a personal level with dispensary bud-tenders, build relationships and find that shop ‘where everybody knows your name.”
There will be a number of lectures on the latest science and technology surrounding the cultivation and consumption of cannabis, as well as politics and how to use it medicinally. Explains Forkash, “One of our big goals is to help normalize the hemp and cannabis industry and have normal conversations about it. Some people are still worried about coming out and speaking about their use, even with hemp products. I love to see three generations shopping together and talking out in the open about everything.”
Around 80% of the vendors are local, giving the community access to resources that it can find every day. Around 50% of the vendors, points out Forkash, are female. “In our first year, 30 of 40 vendors were male. As we’ve grown, a lot more women are coming in, having started at home with edibles and CBD products and they now are becoming a powerful entrepreneurial phenomenon,” she asserts.
The fair will be open on Saturday from 10 AM to 5 PM and on Sunday from 11 AM to 4:30 PM. It is held twice annually and the next event is scheduled for March 2-3 of next year.
