Extravaganja comes to the Franklin County Fairgrounds on Saturday

By Liesel Nygard

For the Gazette

Published: 04-14-2023 2:22 PM

GREENFIELD — After a three-year hiatus during COVID, Extravaganja returns Saturday for its 29th event to take place at the Franklin County Fairgrounds, facilitated by the University of Massachusetts Amherst Cannabis Education Coalition.

Tickets for Extravaganja, which runs from 12-8 p.m., can be reserved for free at https://theticketing.co/e/extravaganja.

With around 75 vendors, Extravaganja will not only be hosting local artists and food vendors but also live music from UMass bands such as Reservations at 8 and the Leadheads.

There will also be a 21 and over with ID area, for attendees to buy from local dispensaries like the Heirloom Collective, RedCardinal, Patriot Care, and Hadleaf Dispensary.

To educate guests, CEC has partnered with the Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition to run an education village where people can learn about cannabis, medicine and the war on drugs.

This will be the first time Extravaganja is in Greenfield. Previously the event had been held in the Amherst and Northampton region. The first ever Extravaganja was in 1991 on the Amherst Common in protest “to end prohibition of cannabis nationally, as well as contribute to ending [the] stigmatization of both medical and recreational use,” according to Liz Mawrey, president of the Cannabis Education Coalition and a junior at UMass.

The decision to move to Greenfield came about after permitting in Northampton would have required that everyone needed to be 21 and older to attend, which Mawrey said was “everything we don’t stand for,” noting she wouldn’t be able to personally attend because she’s 20.

Mawrey said she came to campus in 2021 and “there was no members in the club actively” and meetings were hosted by an alumni. “I kind of refound it,” said Mawrey. Now there are seven members.

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CEC used to be known as the Cannabis Reform Coalition, which lobbied for the legalization of marijuana in Massachusetts. Mawrey said the name changed because of the state’s legalization in 2016 and also to “give it a new name for this new era of reform.”

Currently, Mawrey said there are around 1,300 tickets reserved, but Extravaganja had as many as 10,000 attendees back in 2017.

“We’re hoping for a couple of thousand people, and the weather is going to be so beautiful so I bet it’s going to be a really good turnout,” she said.

According to CEC’s website, free shuttles will be available from UMass Campus Center, and will be departing at 11:30 a.m. Parking opens at 11:30 a.m. and will be $5 for carpools of three or more persons, and $10 on-site parking for one to two people.

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