Rastafari Rootzfest Hosts High Times 2015 Jamaican World Cannabis Cup is a celebration of the freedom of Rastafari to practice their beliefs and to use ganja as a sacrament. Rastafari Rootzfest is a celebration of the small farmers who persisted in growing ganja in Jamaica through years of persecution. Rastafari Rootzfest is an opportunity to celebrate the heroes of the legalization movement who fought for amendments to Jamaica’s legislation recently passed in Parliament. Rastafari Rootzfest, as the first sanctioned “exempt” event for Rastafari, is an opportunity to communicate the message of Rastafari and grassroots people to guests of the festival and to the world. All attendees of the event must be 18 years and older to enter and ID will be required.
The four-day festival will showcase some of island’s finest marijuana products and by-products between November 12-15 at the Long Bay Beach Park in Negril. Rastafari Rootzfest will host the first High Times Jamaican Cannabis Cup as a part of the first approved ganja-exempt event being held legally on the island since the Government amended the Dangerous Drug Act earlier this year and is endorsed by several Rastafari mansions and organizations as well as the Ministry of Justice, Jamaica Tourist Board, Negril Chamber of Commerce and the Bob Marley Group of Companies.
Festival producers Rastafari In Inity and High Times, believe that the event will become an annual international staple and provide a dynamic platform for education, ganja lobby and economic opportunity in the new green economy. The festival will provide an opportunity for the Rastafari community, grassroots people, cannabis industry, stakeholders and the Jamaican Government to increase national awareness and inform public education. The expo and seminars planned are intended to educate the public on the importance of ganja’s spiritual, therapeutic, medicinal and commercial value. For Rastafari In Inity Chairman Ras Iyah V, “I am encouraging Jamaican growers and entrepreneurs who have been creating interesting opportunities within the ganja industry to attend the daily seminars and exhibit their products and services to the larger community”.
Exhibitors and speakers participating the seminar series being offered daily will include industry players, growers, Rastafari mansions, parish associations, Government ministries, the National Council on Drug Abuse, Scientific Research Council and other stakeholders. The upcoming competition and expo scheduled for Negril, Jamaica is expected to attract local and international guests for four days of celebrations and activities including trade show, expo, seminars, reasonings, concerts, food and the competition. High Times, the US based magazine whose 27+ years of competitions have become the industry standard and the ‘Academy Awards of Cannabis’.
The festival is an immersion experience that will commemorate the historic victory of Rastafari’s faith and sacramental freedom to gain recognition by the Parliament of Jamaica and receive the first exemption from the law to develop and protect Rastafari grassroots culture. The festival will provide a platform to celebrate Rastafari livity and history as ganja advocates, Increase awareness of the benefits and value of ganja as a national asset and showcase opportunities inherent in its emerging legal green economy to further fuel support for the full decriminalization of ganja in Jamaica.
