With weed’s legal status still in limbo, Pittsburgh Cannabis Fest preps for sixth annual celebration

The Pittsburgh Cannabis Fest is set to return to its Allegheny Commons site this Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The free-to-attend event invites fans of all things cannabis to spend a lazy afternoon with local dispensaries and musical acts under the shade of the Commons’ canopy. Co-organizer Jack Weber said the festival was first created to unify the wide range of those who partake in consumption of the plant.  A 2023 study from the National Institute of Drug Abuse reported 42% of adults aged 19-30 had used cannabis in the past year; 29% of adults aged 35 to 50 said the same thing. “Events are really a great way for people to come together,” Weber tells Pittsburgh City Paper , “and cannabis provides a really good opportunity to do that in a specific way.” Weber has been helping to throw the festival, founded by sustainable event energy provider ZeroFossil, for three years. Glassware for sale at a previous fest Credit: Courtesy of Pittsburgh Cannabis Fest The festival is partly focused on educational programming. Attendees will be invited to learn about their favorite dispensary-provided products — how they’re grown, cultivated, and which strains could be best for them. Attendees won’t need a legal medical license to get in, and, if eligible, can even begin the process of acquiring an ID card to purchase medical marijuana with certain vendors at the event. Some vendors will teach their own growing techniques. One will blow glass handpipes, along with other trinkets like pendants and marbles. And an assortment of local music acts are slated to perform throughout the day on two separate stages. But with adult-use recreational marijuana still not legal in Pennsylvania — and Congress split on an intoxicating hemp ban — the festival won’t have any of its own THC-based products for sale beyond low-percentage drinks, Weber says. “It’s more of a BYO situation,” he adds. Pittsburgh has largely decr