A cannabis and music festival called Spark in the Park featuring hip-hop acts like Method Man, Redman, B-Real, Ying Yang Twins, Trick Trick, and more is headed for Ypsilanti’s Riverside Park on Saturday, June 10 and Sunday, June 11.
The inaugural event was originally planned to be held last year at Hazel Park’s Green Acres Park, but was canceled after Hazel Park City Council rescinded its approval, citing parking and capacity concerns.
This year, however, organizers say they’re confident the show will go on.
“We’ve been really happy with the city of Ypsi,” says Jared Jeffries, the executive producer for Spark in the Park. “They have such a forward-thinking mentality when it comes to these types of events.”
After Michigan voters approved Proposal 1 at the ballot in 2018, Riverside Park has hosted a number of other cannabis festivals, including events like Canna Jam and Reggae on the River. Proposal 1 allows for adults age 21 and older to consume cannabis, as well as for temporary event licenses where cannabis can be purchased and consumed.
Plus, Riverside Park has more than triple the capacity of Hazel Park’s Green Acres Park.
Jeffries says the event could draw up to 5,000 people per day, while the Hazel Park event would have been capped at about 2,000 people per day.
“They’ve been incredibly easy to work with, very responsive, very helpful,” Jeffries says of Ypsilanti. “The location is excellent.”
The Spark in the Park lineup primarily features hip-hop music, with other acts like rapper Willy J Peso and live band My Detroit Players on the bill.
A number of DJs will also be featured on a smaller secondary stage.
“We have some DJs and EDM, some hip-hop, you know, trying to go for the multi-genre appeal,” Jeffries says. “Our goal was to throw a world-class concert event that happened to have cannabis sales instead of alcohol sales.” By law, alcohol sales and consumption are not allowed at the event, and guests are also prohibited from bringing their own cannabis to the festival.
Spark in the Park is set to feature some 20 cannabis vendors, as well as food trucks, artist booths, and more. Sponsors include dispensaries like Doja, Lake Effect, recweed.com, and Stiiizy, among others.
Jeffries says if the event is successful, it could return and even expand within Riverside Park.
“I’d love to do it again,” he says. “In fact, this venue is fantastic, because not only is it about 12 acres on this side, but on the other side of the river and over a footbridge, there’s an additional four-acre amphitheater. So we can expand the show into that space if we do it again.”
For Jeffries, there is a certain sense of poetic justice in the event being held at Riverside Park. About a decade ago, while a student at Eastern Michigan University, Jeffries says he was once busted for cannabis possession there. “The park we’re throwing it in, I smoked a ton of weed in that park,” he says.
When applying for approval to hold the event, Jeffries says he had to return to the police station where he was booked for possession years ago.
It was a full-circle moment, “to say the least,” he says with a chuckle.
Tickets for Spark in the Park are discounted at half-price until the end of this week, with general admission priced at $49.50 and VIP tickets that include lounge access available for $170.
More information about the festival is available at sparkinthepark.net.
“We’re really excited to be bringing the music and culture to the community,” Jeffries says.
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