THE FRONT YARD SHINDIG with THE JOEL PLASKETT EMERGENCY, THE BALCONIES and BLAKDENIM at Tweed (1 Hershey Drive, Smiths Falls), Saturday (August 13), 4 pm, all ages. Free. More at frontyardshindig.com.
Music fans heading to the Front Yard Shindig festival in Smiths Falls to hear Joel Plaskett, the Balconies and Blakdenim won’t be able to toast the bands with a glass of cold beer, but those with valid medical marijuana licenses can partake in their preferred substance in a special vaporizer lounge. This is because the festival is happening on the grounds of the massive Tweed cannabis growing facility, marking the beginning of a whole new era of music festival sponsorship.
“Since we started Tweed, we’ve always thought it was a brand and a company that would look cool sponsoring a concert series,” explains Tweed’s communications director,
Jordan Sinclair. “The idea came up that we have a massive front lawn here, so why not kick it off by doing it ourselves? Hopefully this one goes really well and it can be the first of many.”
Back when the regulations around tobacco advertising were looser, it was common for cigarette companies to throw tons of money at music festivals. These days, alcohol corporations have assumed that role, as concerts provide not only a good branding opportunity but also an environment where they force attendees to drink only their products. With recreational weed coming to Canada in the near future, music fests seem like an obvious fit for those companies, too.
“We’re entering a new era here of gigs,” Joel Plaskett says. “I’m not a marijuana smoker myself, but I don’t have a problem with it. I don’t view it a whole lot differently than how I view alcohol, and we’ve certainly played events that were sponsored by beer companies.”
Plaskett says he generally tries to avoid playing events sponsored by tobacco companies but that it’s almost impossible to avoid all corporate sponsorship in the current festival economy. While obnoxious branding can affect the vibe of an event, Plaskett is unsure how shifting the emphasis from alcohol to cannabis will change the experience.
“There are plenty of weed smokers at any given rock concert at any given time. I can smell it from the stage at any folk festival I play. I don’t see it as being that different, but who knows?”
The Balconies’ Jacquie Neville is also uncertain what cannabis sponsorship means for festivals, but is excited to be part of this first step.
“It’s funny – when we were pitched the show, I misunderstood and thought it was in Tweed, Ontario,” Neville admits. “I didn’t realize what it was really all about. I think it’s neat that they’re doing festivals like this, and I’m really curious how it’s going to turn out. It’s definitely different, and I have no idea what to expect.”
Tweed won’t be selling weed at the event, as the laws require the company to ship its product to medical users only through the mail. And they’re promoting the Front Yard Shindig as a family-friendly event, complete with face-painting stations for the kids.
Nevertheless, the company is definitely thinking about where it can take the concept once recreational use is legal in Canada.
“Time will tell what this evolves into,” Sinclair says. “A lot depends on how the legal framework is laid out and what the regulations are. But certainly I think the Tweed logo will look really good on a stage.”
Beer gardens getting replaced by marijuana tents still seems a distant fantasy, but that hazy future is on its way. At this point, no one knows what form it’ll take or how the federal government will end up regulating cannabis, and so far our leaders haven’t given Canadians many clues as to how heavy the restrictions will be.
“Things are changing really quickly,” Neville says. “I wonder if it will eventually end up being like the 1920s, when they had cigarette girls, only they’ll be walking around festivals selling marijuana instead.”
benjaminb@nowtoronto.com | @benjaminboles
