WAVERLY, Ohio — Hundreds of marijuana enthusiasts and vendors descended upon Waverly’s riverbank in July for the second annual Stargazer Cannabis Festival, but not everyone left feeling peaceful.
“If they weren’t playing music, it would have looked like an episode of ‘The Walking Dead,’” artist and vendor Hannah Anderson said.
Stargazer Cannabis Festival began in 2024 as a “weekend of love and weed” after Ohio legalized recreational cannabis. Organizer Chad Thompson said weather concerns leading up to the event forced them to quickly adapt the venue to avoid flooded areas. Vendors told NBC4 the venue felt “completely unsafe,” alleging lax security, inadequate facilities and difficult conditions.
After a large inaugural turnout, Thompson moved Stargazer Festival to the banks of the Scioto River this year for more space. Heavy rain before the event left the area partly flooded, and Thompson said he only confirmed they would be able to host the event on the site July 19, just days before vendors arrived.
With flooding, the festival had significantly less land to work with. Thompson said they had planned to have the vendors near the site’s electrical tower for easy use, but floods forced them to relocate much of the event. Vendors could arrive starting July 23, but Thompson said the scope of their electric issues was not clear until the festival opened July 25.
Food truck vendor Jennifer Carlson said the lack of electricity posed a huge problem, especially for vendors who paid an additional $50 for electricity access. Carlson said the electricity that was eventually provided was not enough for the 100 vendors present, especially food trucks that rely on refrigeration. Several vendors purchased their own generators, and Thompson said they helped cover those costs, adding that nearly all vendors had electricity by July 27.
Carlson said she lost several hundred dollars in inventory from food that spoiled. That loss was on top of an $800 vending fee and payments to an employee she brought. Thompson said the electricity concerns also cost him significantly, and indicated the festival did not make a profit this year. Other vendors reportedly lost several thousand dollars.
The site conditions also posed safety concerns, vendors alleged. One shared photos of metal shards along a beach used for many activities. Carlson said she was situated near the security tent and thought officers were not taking things seriously.
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