Zonk Family Conference – A Day Of Art, Music and Cannabis Education
I had a chance to sit down with David Rakower, the man behind Tampa Bay’s newest music event, The Zonk Family Conference.
First things first – the event. The Zonk Family Conference will be July 8th at Bay Harbor in Tampa. This venue boasts a massive outdoor stage with a large sand dance and party area along with large covered areas, outdoor bars, a giant pier and more. It’s part of the Bay Harbor Hotel Complex, so there will be a hotel on site offering discounted rates to attendees. It’s a great venue for an event like this. It is centrally located for both sides of Tampa Bay and regularly hosts music events for up to 10,000 people. Chicago favorites The Main Squeeze will headline the music portion of the event with a stellar roster of other Florida favorites also playing throughout the day. Read more about the music part of this event here.
I sat down with David to go over what is driving the event as well as what brought him to become a force in the Florida Music Scene.
Many people may already be familiar with the Zonk, the game. You may have played the game or seen the white Zonk beach balls bouncing around festivals and concerts.
David started the game Zonk 1 ½ years ago. Rakower has been a musician for many years and worked with Steve Connelly in St. Pete to release an album. Through that connection and having come from Jam Cruise, he was introduced further to the music community around the Tampa Bay Area and fell in love with music in Florida. Zonk was focused towards the recreational industry. Rakower wanted to expand into other areas, so he created Sibannical Life to help incorporate a lifestyle component to Zonk and to help bridge the gap between the music industry and the cannabis industry.
With Sibannical Life, Rakower has aggressively branched out into other areas, especially the music scene. For anyone who went to Fool’s Paradise last April, you may have seen the Sibannical Lounge VIP area. They have also been starting a new video series called Sibannical Sessions, which will be releasing new studio recordings very soon, both audio as well as video sessions.
Which all leads up to this event in July, The Zonk Family Conference. It is a day of art, music and cannabis education. There will be 15 exhibitors. In the morning, the Florida Cannabis Coalition will have their monthly green carpet event on the Pier at the venue. Michael Minardi, who is one of the leading cannabis attorneys in the State of Florida, will be on stage to present a “State of Cannabis In Florida” regarding legislation, medical marijuana, the campaigns and more. Rakower had previously found opportunities to bring Sibannical’s education efforts to music festivals. He decided to flip things around and bring the festival to a cannabis conference. David wants to be clear though: anyone can come and enjoy the music all day without touching on the cannabis aspect or vice versa.
Registering in advance will get you discounted ticket, a swag bag of goodies, a limited-edition event poster as well as exclusive access to Zonk Family events and releases.
Zonk Family Conference
Bay Harbor Hotel, Tampa
15 cannabis-focused exhibitors
Yoga at noon
Live Music from 1 pm – 10 pm featuring:
The Main Squeeze
The Heavy Pets
Come Back Alice
Holey Miss Moley
The Applebutter Express
Boxcar Hollow