Ahead of Mary Jane Berlin, which returns later this month as part of European Cannabis Week, CEO Duc Anh Dang, spoke to Business of Cannabis about taking the festival to the next level and learning lessons along the way.
From humble beginnings in 2016, when the inaugural event was held on a €10,000 budget, Mary Jane Berlin has reached new heights in recent years, buoyed by the landmark change in legislation in Germany.
In April 2024, German lawmakers passed the Cannabisgesetz (Cannabis Act), removing cannabis from the list of Narcotics and decriminalising possession of up to 25 grams in public, as well as permitting home cultivation of up to three plants and the establishment of non-profit cannabis associations.
Germany has since become the meeting place of the European cannabis sector, with 60,000 visitors expected to attend Mary Jane Berlin later this month. Taking place from 19-22 June, with more than 50,000 square meters of space and over 500 exhibitors, for the first time since it was founded, it is positioning itself among the world’s largest cannabis trade fairs.
This year’s event will also see a number of other firsts for the festival, including the addition of a dedicated B2B day held in partnership with Business of Cannabis, increased focus on medical access, and an alcohol-free policy throughout the event.
Mary Jane Berlin founder and CEO, Duc Anh Dang, tells Business of Cannabis about its evolution from grassroots festival to global trade fair.
BoC: Duc, thanks for speaking to us. Let’s go back to the beginning, what was your initial motivation for founding Mary Jane Berlin?
Duc: “My very first intention was to earn money when I was a student. I spent a semester abroad in Montana in 2015 and we visited Washington state on the weekends where we could just buy weed— it was mindblowing for us. It was just a business idea, I thought someday cannabis will come to Europe, to Germany, and it did.”
BoC: Since your first show in 2016, how has it evolved over the years?
Duc: The very first show was during my last semester at university, with a €10,000 budget. We visited Spannabis and different shows and honestly, it was kind of a naive approach asking people if they would be interested in a show in Berlin. Most of them were like, ‘we don’t need Berlin, we already have what we need’, but a few early exhibitors trusted us and it all accelerated from there.
BoC: As you say, it took almost a decade before it was eventually legalised in Germany, was there much demand for an event like this among the general public at that time?
Duc: Not much, people were smoking, sure but we had no marketing budget, so we relied on guerilla marketing. We hung up posters ourselves through the night until Berlin was covered. That first year, around 8,000 people visited. People hadn’t really seen the weed plant out in the open before. It meant something to them and people joined us.
BoC: Being based in Berlin, have you seen a cultural shift since the law change?
Duc: Absolutely, it’s becoming much more mainstream. Even our grandmas are starting to learn about the plant and trying it. People are opening their minds. It’s not seen as that “drug” anymore, the stigma is slowly reducing.
BoC: Have you seen growth in terms of interest and demand in the event itself?
Duc: Absolutely. In 2022, 2023, it wasn’t legal yet and we were in much smaller locations with around 270 exhibitors and about 30,000 visitors. But last year, when it became legal, we had 400 exhibitors from all over the world and 43,000 visitors. This year we’re expecting around 60,000 visitors, almost double, so it’s huge.
BoC: Last year there were some issues around over-crowding, how are you planning to ensure this doesn’t happen again?
Duc: To be honest, we didn’t expect so many people or the energy that happened at last year’s show, and we were overwhelmed. It was the very first show in Germany after legalisation, and there was no prior experience to draw from. But we saw what happened, we learned from it, and we’re implementing changes this year.
BoC: You’ve introduced a B2B day and an increased focus on medical consumption, what else can people expect this year?
Duc: We have much more variety to the show now. The show now runs for four days and we’ve added two more halls and a large outdoor festival area, complete with a Ferris wheel. It will be like Disneyland for cannabis, for ages 18 and above, of course. We want to show that people can have fun with cannabis, we want to teach them to use it confidently, safely, and responsibly.
Many medical platforms are also exhibiting at the show. We’re inviting doctors and pharmacies to help educate the public on the medicinal use of cannabis. We want to be a platform to share that education.
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BoC: This year you have introduced an alcohol-free policy, what’s the reasoning behind this?
Duc: Yes, we might be the biggest cannabis event without alcohol.
We had some experiences last year, and this time we want to try things out to see how the energy will shift without alcohol. We don’t even offer energy drinks, just cannabis. We want to see how people will react and interact. It’s a big experiment for all of us, and it will be really interesting to see how it goes, hopefully more relaxed.
BoC: What was behind the decision to collaborate with Business of Cannabis to bring about European Cannabis Week?
Duc: We’re collaborating because we want to combine our energy to do something great together. There’s plenty of room for all of us, we don’t need to compete. Every event has its own style, there’s no right or wrong approach, we can learn from everyone. It’s all the same mission in the end. Cannabis isn’t about separating people, it brings people together.
BoC: Following the change in government, there is a lot of uncertainty around the future of cannabis policy in Germany. Where do you see it going over the next 5-10 years?
Duc: A lot of people in Germany are looking at the history of the US market and trying to map it out: what happened in the first year, the second year, the third, the fourth. But the difference is, when the US opened up to the recreational market, they didn’t know what would happen, they just did it. They just went with the flow.
What I wish for all of us is not to look at the US market and what happened there, because it’s totally different. Let’s just go with the flow. It’s a different approach here in Germany, and I’m sure things will happen for the better. We just have to believe in it. Honestly, nobody believed legalisation would happen in Germany. Nobody planned it, but it happened.
BoC: And what about the future of Mary Jane, do you see yourself expanding into other countries across Europe as they look towards reform?
Duc: For now, we only see Mary Jane in Berlin. We love Berlin, it’s our city and it gave us so much. You never know what will happen tomorrow, but today we’re all-in on what we do here. We wake up every morning thinking about Mary Jane Berlin. We talk with our customers and take their feedback seriously. Their opinions matter and we implement what they say into our work. When I started this I just wanted to earn money, but with time, I learned to love the plant and now I can afford to do what I love.
The post ‘It’s Disneyland for Cannabis’: Mary Jane Berlin Founder on Taking the Grassroots Festival to New Heights appeared first on Business of Cannabis.
