'Betrayal:' Vendors say Ohio cannabis festival had significant safety concerns ...Middle East

WAVERLY, Ohio (WCMH) -- 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. See a video of the site in the video player above, provided by a vendor.

“My biggest concern is them doing this again, and someone getting really hurt," Anderson said. "I'm actually very surprised nothing catastrophic happened, that nobody lost a life.”

Thompson said the grounds and logistics plans were approved by Pike County ahead of time. He said the site was also insured, and on July 25, he doubled the insurance. He said he knew some vendors were concerned after the event, but he has spoken with them and offered refunds or credits toward next year's festival.

“When you move a festival from zero to festival in 48 hours, it's like bringing a small village," Thompson said. "And so in the best of festivals, not everyone's going to be happy.”

Thompson said he was “unaware” of safety issues, and the festival had security around the clock. He said the head of their security was a former law enforcement officer who runs a cannabis safety company and helped Thompson hire the rest of the security team.

Carlson said she was especially alarmed after trying to ask for help getting her truck unstuck from the mud in the middle of the night. As she spoke with security, she allegedly heard a call come through to security officers from a young girl who was worried about her friend, who was having a bad experience with drugs. Carlson alleged she watched security hang up on the girl and turn their music back up.

Carlson alleged she asked to be driven over to help the girl herself and was told no. When asked about Carlson's security concern, Thompson said he had radio access throughout the festival and did not hear about it, adding, "That sounds completely made up."

Carlson stayed through the festival, but many vendors left early. Anderson left the same day she arrived. She said when she arrived at the site, she was surprised at the minimal facilities, signage and attention to detail. By 7:15 p.m. Friday, she had had enough.

Anderson said, unlike other vendors, she was able to get a free vending spot through a friend. She said she was "lucky" she only lost money on supplies, her hotel and time she spent preparing for the festival.

Vendors also said they felt unsafe because of illicit drug use. The festival sold and offered cannabis, but Thompson said it did not offer any other drugs or alcohol.

“We had 1,500 people there. I would imagine there might have been some other drugs, perhaps, but I'm not aware of them, I didn't see them, I didn't do them," Thompson said. "If we had seen any drug use, we're gonna completely stop that immediately.”

Anderson was especially concerned because she said she saw a baby and children at the festival. Thompson said after complaints last year when organizers brought their kids, he made this year's event 21 and up. Thompson said he was not aware of any children, although multiple vendors reported seeing kids on-site. He said he thought many of the concerns he'd heard about experiences at the festival were false.

“When people start saying untruths online, at some point, it feels a little bit like a witch hunt,” Thompson said.

Vendors told NBC4 they attend dozens of festivals every year, and none was like Stargazer. Carlson's first cannabis festival was in April, and she said there was a stark difference in safety. She said after Stargazer, she needed several days to recover from the shock and stress of the festival.

“I felt betrayal, a lot of betrayal, because the more that you looked around, you could see that they knew all these things were issues, and just let us all come anyway,” Carlson said.

None of the vendors NBC4 spoke with said they would return. Thompson is undeterred. He said the vast majority of vendors were pleased with the event and plan to return, and he's proud of the hard work his team did. Thompson plans to bring Stargazer Cannabis Festival back to Waverly next summer at the same site. 

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