VICTORVILLE — After the event was originally postponed due to the Bluecut Fire,
Hosted at the High Desert Event Center in Victorville, the cannabis-themed two-day event is billed as a celebration of the best hip hop, reggae and medical marijuana in Southern California. A variety of talented musical groups took the stage while attendees mingled with the state’s premier medical marijuana growers, breeders, edible chefs and extract artists on Saturday.
“It’s exciting to have the opportunity to host an event this size in the High Desert for the very first time and to bring something for those who have medical needs regarding Prop 215,” said High Desert Event Center CEO Geoff Hinds. “Thousands of people are coming from out of town to enjoy this festival and hopefully this will be an opportunity to have a positive impact on each guest and showcase what we as a community have to offer.”
During the 36,000-acre Bluecut Fire, the San Bernardino County Fairgrounds became the main staging area for evacuees and animals affected by the fire that began Aug. 16. Thus, the festival was pushed back until this weekend.
The event offered medical marijuana users more than 300 vendors that featured cannabis-themed accessories, products and food. Exhibitor also competed in several categories, including flowers, concentrates, cannabis-infused edibles and highest THC to show off their products.
“After promoting events through my collective called DTPC (Downtown Patient Collective), we decided to celebrate our five years of success by throwing the High Life Festival,” said High Life promoter Franco Rodriguez. “We decided if we’re going to celebrate, we’re going to go hard — that’s why this is no ordinary festival.”
This year's musical lineup featured performances from Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Rick Ross and DMX brought people from all around Southern California and Las Vegas.
During each performance, promoters and sponsors would come up on stage to hand out freebies to the audience members as they tossed hats, T-shirts and other items to the eager crowd.
While rocking out to DMX, Gardena resident Ladaji Clark told the Daily Press this was her first time attending a marijuana festival and said she was having the time of her life.