Saturday’s DC State Fair will host its usual contests for the best compost, home-brewed beer, and pie. And, thanks to some recent changes in city law, this year’s fair will also feature a contest for marijuana. The “Best Bud” contest, sponsored by Let’sGrowDC!, pits a handful of homegrown entries in the battle for top pot.
Pulling off the competition required a careful reading of DC’s laws. When narrowing down the 56 entries into five finalists, the contest’s judges worked in waves so they never had dozens of ounces of marijuana in their posession. (The marijuana-legalization statues allow adults to possess up to two ounces.)
Contestants strolled into the judging space with their buds, handed them over for inspection, and then left with their entry. Judges aren’t testing for taste or quality of high. They didn’t even try the stuff.
“Imagine the judges ingesting marijuana!” says Anna Tauzin, outreach director for the fair. “After three entries, you wouldn’t have any idea what you were doing.”
So they judged based on appearance and smell, posing questions like “Is it well-manicured?” and “Did you grow your plant organically?” According to Tauzin, the most important factor were the growers’ stories. “That’s the proof that someone has taken love and care to grow the plant,” she says.
At 4:15 PM Saturday, fair-goers at Old City Farm and Guild can watch as judges pick first-, second-, and third-place winners for the competition. Winners will get ribbons, plus other perks, like donated T-shirts from local growing organizations. The five bud finalists are “Capital Chronic OG,” “The Delano,” “Nemo,” “Sensi Star,” and “Yeti Kush.”
