Event organizers behind Terp Basel bringing 7L & Esoteric to Lansdowne for Mass party debut
This year’s NECANN is shaping up to be a spectacle like none before, from the actual event itself to the constellation of pre, during, and afterparties off-premises.
We recommend that you check out our compendium of happenings for the big picture, but we also spoke with some of the promoters and performers—like our interview with Slightly Stoopid, which is playing the official conference afterparty Friday night, and also with the Baked! team, which has its own event, Fenway Spark, at Cheeky Monkey across from the ballpark featuring 7L & Esoteric of Czarface and other attractions on Friday, March 22 from 7pm to 2am.
You can find our interview with the crew which is also behind the annual Miami blowout Terp Basel below.
Tell us about your company and the footprint you are trying to develop in Mass.
Baked! is an experiential event, marketing, and consulting company. We’re a group of cannabis and event industry veterans from California to Massachusetts to Florida committed to furthering real cannabis culture around the globe in all forms.
Fenway Spark will be our first event in Mass but not our first rodeo in Mass, as one of our co-founders, Brian Moskin, graduated from Emerson College and later went on to co-design and build the Elevated Roots dispensary and brand in Kingston and Halifax. Baked! may develop Fenway Spark further to the point that it becomes an event in Boston that stretches beyond NECANN. More to come on that. Let’s party on March 22nd first.
What is the story behind Terp Basel, how long have you been doing it, and what has it grown into over the years?
Terp Basel blends cannabis, art, fashion, skateboarding, media and culture into one cohesive yet diverse experience [and] was an event co-founded in late 2022 by Matt Streich and Stephen Lescano of a company they previously called Baked Foodiez! Once Brian Moskin entered the picture as a partner in March of 2023 they rebranded simply as Baked! and went on to produce Terp Basel 2 in December of 2023 (along with 15 or so other events in Florida, California, Nevada, and Medellin, Colombia).
Terp Basel 2022 was an instant phenomenon, spanning three nights at three different locations in Miami, with brands like Preferred Gardens, Jelly Wizard, Terp Hogz, and Dab Rite participating. Terp Basel 2023 was six times the size and intensity spanning four nights at one location—a two-level, three-zone indoor/outdoor skatepark in the heart of Miami’s art district called Skatebird. What Terp Basel is known for is bringing the best, most authentic brands from around the country—and globe—to Miami during one of the most exciting weeks in Florida every year, Art Basel.
You’ve done parties and events in multiple states. What have you found that makes for a solid cannabis themed party no matter where you are?
Making sure that you have the right location, the right branding/concept for the event, and, most importantly yet most intangible—keeping shit real. Doing things and setting things up the way real cannabis enthusiasts would want to have it—the way we would want to have it. That’s pretty much our motto at Baked!/Terp Basel—as long as we keep shit real, we can’t lose.
How do you see the Mass grass landscape compared to other markets you are active in?
Mass has a pretty diverse landscape, similar to that of California and Nevada (with the exception of the three dispensary limit per brand law in Mass). And distinct from tighter laws and limited licenses/producers in Florida and elsewhere, Mass allows for pleasing/colorful packaging/branding and it allows for a much wider variety of producers to participate in the market.
Mass regulators are of course currently working on regulations for social consumption. What are some things you would like to see in those rules?
The ability to smoke/consume cannabis in all forms indoors if the venue is licensed and set up with proper air filtration/ventilation. Massachusetts is cold six-to-eight months out of the year. People need to be able to consume cannabis comfortably, just like every bar and club offers people the ability to consume (massive and dangerous) amounts of alcohol comfortably indoors all year round and without nearly any limitations. I can understand if an existing business wants to allow cannabis consumption but limit it to a certain area or outside, etc. But if there is a new cannabis business type called “cannabis consumption lounge,” it should allow cannabis enthusiasts to consume indoors, in all forms, with food, with activities, etc. all in a responsible way and setting.
In the meantime, tell us about your NECANN afterparty, including the decision to bring Esoteric. We are huge Czarface fans over here.
We’re also huge Czarface fans over here. Major hip-hop fans in general. And it just so happens that we have a relationship with someone on their team. So, when we decided to throw Fenway Spark as an unofficial NECANN afterparty, we wanted to pick an authentic hip-hop artist to bring in that we all loved. And being that 7L & Eso are from Mass, we thought it would be the perfect fit.
The party is being held on Lansdowne Street at a dope brewery called Cheeky Monkey. It goes from 7pm to 2am. We rented an awesome, LED-lit-up exclusive puff bus with couches that hold up to 30 people that will sit out front for 10 minutes, then take people around the Fenway area for 10 to 15 minutes, and continue that pattern throughout the night—giving everyone a chance to hop on and spark it up.
We’ll also have DJs performing to start the night off, brands exhibiting at tables, 7L & Eso will go on around 11pm, there’s ping pong, shuffleboard, pool tables, a full bar. You walk outside and you’re staring at the Green Monster. And just a few doors down is one of the coolest dispensaries in Boston called New Dia. What else do we need? Let’s roll!
Reserve your tickets to Fenway Spark here
