Music festivals set to roll with dope offering

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This article was published 20/04/2022 (1422 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

AFTER a two-year absence, party people will once again be able to indulge in the musical mayhem of Dauphin’s Countryfest and Rockin’ the Fields of Minnedosa. This year, however, there will be an added amenity: an on-site cannabis store.

The first and only legal mobile mellow purveyor in the country is brought to you by the good folks at Delta 9 Cannabis, who have built a 2.5 x 8-metre self-contained trailer to bring pre-rolled joints, gummies and other favourite concert cannabis products to the festival grounds for all those Foghat and Paul Brandt fans out there.

Fully licensed by the Liquor, Gaming and Cannabis Authority of Manitoba, the retail trailer has been forced to sit in the garage for the past couple of years.

“We developed the concept in advance of COVID hitting which, of course, delayed a number of these events for a couple of years,” said John Arbuthnot, chief executive officer of Delta 9. “But we kept the concept alive and, fingers crossed, now that (pandemic-related) things are moving in the right direction, we have the chance to move it forward.”

Customers will be allowed to enter the trailer where a limited assortment of product, including cannabis beverages, vape pens and small accessories (such as “one-hitters” and pipes, is stored in regulator-approved mobile vaults.

Arbuthnot is not one to flaunt the rules. While the sale of cannabis is legal for licensed operators, it’s not legal to consume it in public.

Both Countryfest and Rockin’ the Fields have campground facilities which can serve as dwelling units, where people can legally consume cannabis products.

Arbuthnot said both Delta 9 and the regulators are keen to see how it goes. He’s hoping, in time, while it might not become as ubiquitous as food trucks, Delta 9 might need to have a few more trailers on the road.

“As it exists currently, there is a limited number of events where we could conceivably license these types of cannabis sales at,” he said.

“We’re really hoping this serves as a successful trial run and that government regulators — who have been great to work with — and others will start to wrap their heads around the fact that this can be done responsibly.”

As well, government regulators are as aware as the basic Nazareth fan there might otherwise be black market sales occurring at these types of events.

“Obviously, it is preferable for us to be bringing this into the legal sphere,” Arbuthnot said, confident it’s the first in the country but pretty certain it won’t be the last.

Meanwhile, the mobile store becomes part of a growing number of revenue sources for the increasingly integrated operations at Delta 9.

The specialized trailer will be shown off today, at the grand opening of Delta 9’s 35th store in the Crestview Mall at 3421 Portage Ave.

The Winnipeg company — one of the original dozen Health Canada licensed producers of cannabis — is now the fifth-largest such retailer in Canada by store revenues, after acquiring 17 Uncle Sam’s Cannabis stores in the Edmonton area last month.

The local company has an aggressive growth strategy, with the goal of having a total of 50 stores in the Delta 9 retail network over the next 12 months.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca