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Interview: The Grass Is Greener Gathering and Interpretasting’s GreensKeeper Cup 

“Bring your good vibes because the weekend is going to be full of really good times and is sure to be something to remember.”

“We’re going to help the cream rise to the top and get to the bottom of who’s really producing the highest quality pre rolls in the state.”


There are countless ways that one could introduce Bobby and Bailey Nuggz.

New England cannabis personalities. Connoisseurs. Tastemakers … 

They’re also creative event designers and the founders of Interpretasting, a nomadic, catered dab fiesta (spelled “inTERPretasting” in their marketing materials).

(And, we’re proud to say, occasional contributors to DigBoston and Talking Joints Memo.)

Their next big to-do is the GreensKeeper Cup, a “dispensary-only competition to highlight the best dispensary grass in the Massachusetts recreational market.” Curated by team Nuggz with 4LifeEntertainment, their culminating event will be the first-ever Grass is Greener Gathering in Hadley on Saturday, April 21.

We asked Bobby and Bailey about everything from their categories and intake process for the cup, to their impressive main stage headliners.

Talking Joints Memo: It’s a pretty big move to throw a 4/20 event. If there are other things going on that weekend, and one can only assume that there will be, what will especially make your event stand out enough for someone to maybe even cross state lines or drive across Mass to come?

Bobby & Bailey Nuggz: The Grass is Greener Gathering will be a multi-faceted, two day and two-part event with the GreensKeeper Cup. We have booked some of the biggest names in the business for our musical acts and are about to drop a phase two lineup that will be pretty impressive. Of course we’ll also have some really incredible local acts on the bill, including multiple talented DJs.

To add we’ll be featuring the Pull’d Up Invitational exotic car show, pro wrestling from Blitzkrieg, and multiple carnival rides and games. There will be other portions of the event as well such as a killer lineup of food vendors providing all the munchies, healing arts, activism, keynote speakers, and more. 

Let’s talk about the competition itself. Starting with the categories—Flower, Non-Solvent, Solvent, Pre-Roll, Cartridges. That covers a lot of ground but there is also a lot out there now, so why focus on these in particular? No gummies!?!

We decided to not add a topicals or edibles category this year because we wanted more of a focus more regarding the smokeable and vaporizable products that are available within the legal market in Massachusetts. If we end up getting enough of a response we’ll add the category if there’s enough time this year or take us into consideration for next year’s competition. 

How about prerolls, one of the fastest growing categories. Are even longtime heads like you getting into them? What will you be looking for in judging them?

Once in a while yeah I fuck with a preroll. Rolling takes so much time and they’re always accessible and there. As we know prepolls are a highly critiqued product because there’s a stigma surrounding already grown and rolled joints, you don’t really know what’s in them. We’re going to help the cream rise to the top and get to the bottom of who’s really producing the highest quality pre rolls in the state. 

When judging prerolls, our judges will be looking for a distinctive taste and terpene profile, clean burning ash and flush, and obviously potency is a really important part to the overall scoring.

How will the submissions process work? 

First of all, submissions for the GreensKeeper Cup are available only to Massachusetts licensed craft cooperatives, micro businesses, and cultivators. This specific competition isn’t open to the public for home growers. With so many dispensaries and cultivators now in the state we feel it’s important for competitions like this to help elevate a quality standard in the industry and it’s also a positive way for these businesses to advertise and get their names out there to stay relevant in an ever changing market with so many business limitations.

How will the kits and judging work?

Judges kits will be available at our announced retail brand partners store. Judges can only judge either nonsolvent or solvent, flower or prerolls. No one public judge will be able to judge both categories due to legal amounts and compliance.

All judges will be using an online judging scoring system that has been designed, tested, and proven by Infuzed Productions, one of our event sponsors. The competition is trying to stay as transparent as possible and samples will be judged blind.

Do you have any general criticisms of cannabis cups? How do you plan to make the experience better—for contestants, visitors, everyone?

There’s always room for improvement across the board. Overall most of the cannabis competitions I’ve judged have been incredibly tight knit, well organized, and impactful for any of the brands entering. I’ve judged upwards of 40-plus cannabis cups from California to Barcelona so I’ve been able to see these style events from every angle.

To make this better for all competitors, we’ve developed a sliding-scale entry-fee system dependent on canopy size, whether you’re a micro business or large scale facility in Massachusetts, which kind of evens the playing field and assures micro businesses and small craft growers can enter the competition for a less of a premium entry fee. It’s such a range with Tier 1 being 5,000 to 10,000 square ft. and Tier 9-11 being 70,000 to 100,000 square ft. So we think that’s fair. 

And the entertainment of course—did you go about picking Action Bronson and Dopapod?

4life Entertainment is the founder and production company behind this event concept. They’re helping produce some of the best music festivals in the United States and ate tailoring this line up perfectly with a rich blend of hip-hop, reggae, and EDM.

I’ve been a huge fan of Bam Bam for years, we’ve actually hung out before, he’s a genuine person with great stage presence. My first Dopapod set was at StrangeCreek in 2011. So needless to say I’m excited.

What else should people know? What should they bring? 

Bring your smokeables, dabs, electric rigs, vapes, bongs. As long as you’re abiding by state law, everyone can relax and enjoy cannabis in a safe atmosphere, enjoy some great music, locally made food and a unique atmosphere.

This is going to be a great place to celebrate your 4/20 weekend. I’d also say bring your good vibes because the weekend is going to be full of really good times and is sure to be something to remember.


Tickets and info: thegrassisgreenergathering

Competitor registry: thegreenskeepercup.com