Expogrow 2016: Cannabis speaks French too!

Expogrow 2016 came together this year as much more than just a simple cannabis fair.  Work, debate and entertainment were the three pillars in this fifth edition, an event that has become the perfect meeting place between professionals and the interested public from Spain and France.

This is demonstrated by the attendance numbers: 17.000 visitors benefited from professional opportunities to network and exchange ideas as well as all the good times that were to be had during the events of the three day fair, located in the FICOBA space, at little more than 300 meters from the French border.

The four pavillons hosted 175 vendor stands. The 2.200 professionals – attendees and exhibitors who attend the event were able to network in the B2B day organized on Friday morning.  This not-to-miss event demonstrates the difference between Expogrow and other trade shows in the sector.

V Social and International Cannabis Forum

Running alongside the exhibition, Fundación Renovatio celebrated its fifth edition of the Social and International Cannabis Forum.  The forum was made up of two days of various round table talks that brought together all kinds of figures, national and international, to the debate on the normalization and regulation of cannabis in the world.  Important contributions were given by the likes of Nuria Calzada, Raúl Elizalde, Hanka Gabrielova, Ana María Gazmuri, Louise Levayer, Araceli Manjón, Carola Pérez, Luciana Pol, Luis Rivera, Cristina Sánchez, Dra. Bareket Schiff-Keren and Zara Snapp who all spoke from their experience and viewpoints from broad perspectives.

The safe access to medical marijuana for patients and the regulation of the global drug market with the goal to reduce and end the terrible consequences on account of prohibition continued to be the center of debate.  Doctors, activists, judges and politicians took on difficult questions that they afirm can’t wait any longer to be solved.  They brought proposals and tools that will serve as a guide throughout the process.  What will the institutions and corresponding administrations do about it?  We will be watching very closely in these next months to see how things play out in the legal and political arena.

Coming soon, on www.yesweskunk.com interviews from the show will be available on the website with some of the participants at the expo in order to share with those who were not able to attend what they missed this year.

Awards and recognitions

The main stage of Expogrow welcomed the award recipients in this edition.  Big praise was given for the impeccable work of those who pull the heavy weight in this business.  Derry (Barney’s Farm) and Henk de Vries (The Bulldog) received their respective and well earned honors, celebrated with the respect and joy of the attendees.

The prize for the best national and international activist, were Fermin Les La Costa and Joep Oomet respectively.

The top prizes were given to Barney’s Farm (best stand), Serious Seed (best seed bank), Smart Pot (best cultivated product), Biotaps (best fertilizer), Vaponic (best paraphenelia), Soft Secrets (best communication media) and Mama Editions (best publication).

Music

Once again this year, the music and the entertainment activities were one of the focus points of the fair.  Biga Ranx, El Langui, Tomasito, Muchachito and Scare Croww were those deemed “guilty” of a party that raged into four in the morning on Saturday.  Even those that stayed up late and really got a kick out of it the night before returned the next day to the fair – with few hours of sleep but plenty of smiles to share.

Chico Requena a comedian from Malaga brought together a handful of assistants to lend a hand at his hilarious show sponsored by yesweskunk.com and Kannabia Seeds.  Videos from the show already available in Spanish.  Side splitting laughter!