NORTHAMPTON — With the pro-legalization marijuana fest Extravaganja coming to the Three County Fairgrounds in less than two weeks, neighborhood residents are waiting to see what the event brings.
The festival was long held on the Amherst Town Common, but town officials declined to renew the University of Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition’s event this year, saying it had outgrown the space. The event, which drew between 6,000 and 8,000 people last year, will be held April 30 and promises to bring food, music, crafts, merriment, and, of course, marijuana.
Shannon Almeida, a tenant of 183 Bridge St., said she’s excited for the festival to come to her backyard.
“I think it’ll be better because there’s more space,” said Almeida. “The Amherst spot got muddy and crowded.”
Still, Almeida — one of nearly 30 neighborhood residents interviewed Saturday – said she’s not sure whether or not marijuana should be legalized. “I’m a little on the fence about it,” she said. “But if alcohol is legal, why not?”
Wouter Schievink, 22, was eager to make a statement while purchasing notebooks from Almeida’s tag sale. He said marijuana festivals like Extravaganja suck the soul from the spiritual side of the plant.
“I’ve seen a lot of people selling all kinds of products and paraphrenalia,” Schievink said of attending the event in the past. “Everyone was more focused on the commodity aspect of it.”
Still, others had concerns about the marijuana festival coming to Ward 3.
“My concern is that they don’t have a way to regulate who’s using the marijuana at the event,” said Jim Nash, president of the Ward 3 Neighborhood Association. “If this were an event to promote the legalization of, let’s say, alcohol, people would be saying who’s carding at the door, and you’d get stamped.
“This is an opportunity for them to promote a system for what regulation might look like,” he said.
Karen Bobala said she hopes the event doesn’t pose problems for neighborhood residents.
“We’ve been through a lot down there,” said Bobala, 67, of Old Ferry Road, referencing the ruckus caused by past concerts at the fairgrounds, including the Warped Tour in August 2005 that created local traffic jams and backups on I-91. “I just worry about the number of people, and also we have small kids who live in the neighborhood.”
Bobala, a retired nurse, said she remembers how she once treated children who’d gotten a hold of their father’s marijuana-infused brownies.
“I just worry about the kids,” she said. “We’ll see how it goes.”
Others considered taking advantage of thirsty, hungry crowds.
“We’re thinking about setting up a lemonade and snack stand,” said Jen Nery of Fair Street.
While Nery spoke, horses could be seen being worked on the fairgrounds property, as a show was in progress. An announcer’s voice echoed through the neighborhood.
“We see all kinds of stuff and I think it’s probably going to be less annoying than a horse show,” said Nery, who owns Clinic Alternative Medicines in Northampton.
Nery said she’s supportive of the legalization movement. “As an acupuncturist I have a lot of patients who use medical marijuana and are getting great results,” she said.
Josh Chesbrough said he works at Antonio’s in Amherst and he’s excited he won’t have to tend to Amherst crowds wanting pizza the day of Extravaganja, and instead will be able to walk to the event from his house.
“I’m super-excited,” said Chesbrough, 19, of Walnut Street. “I could probably smell it from my house.”
Steve Gosselin, who lives directly across the street from the fairgrounds, shared the enthusiasm.
“I’m excited and I can’t wait to go,” said Gosselin, 31, of Bridge Street. “(Legalization) has taken way too long.”
However, many others interviewed in the neighborhood were more reserved about the prospect of Extravaganja coming to the fairgrounds.
“Don’t bother me one way or another,” said Leon Jasinski, who has lived on Fair Street for 40 years. “I assume it’s going to be orderly — everything else the fairgrounds holds is orderly.”
The event hasn’t happened yet, Jasinski said, while tending his immaculate lawn, so there’s nothing to complain about.
“We’ll see how it goes the first year,” he said. “I still got an open mind on it.”
Elaine Yeskie said she’s too busy with other concerns to worry about Extravaganja.
“It’ll be down below, anyway, so I won’t smell it,” she said, smoking a cigarette outside of her Fair Street home, adding that it can’t be worse than in the past when concertgoers urinated on her neighbor’s porch.
Yeskie pointed to a tree in front of her house, at the edge of the fairgrounds property, that she said has dead branches she fears may fall. And Yeskie, who lost her husband and son in one of the fires set by Anthony Baye in 2009, is concerned about the recent string of suspicious fires.
“I go to bed wondering if he’s going to hit 17 Fair St. again,” she said. “So I don’t care what they do.”
Amanda Drane can be contacted at adrane@gazettenet.com.