On June 27th, The Paramount Group had the pleasure of hosting The HighMinded Higher Love Tea Dance to celebrate Pride month.
This event marked the first occasion (post-COVID19) to celebrate Pride since the legalization of recreational cannabis use in the state of Illinois.
The sun was shining and the celebratory attitude was only heightened with many people enjoying their first event since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The event combined elements of a traditional tea dance with cannabis education and opportunities to engage with cannabis brands. Chicago favorites such as Chicago Kush and Pet Pantry were among the vendors in attendance. Check out our previous blog post to learn more about the history of Tea Dances here.
“Our events have a way of reaching people and communicating cannabis in a way that is positive”
Traditional street food such as hot dogs and nachos as well as a charcuterie board and freshly-made frozen beverages from Paramount Events provided a fresh and unique twist to the party atmosphere. Live DJ Brian X and performances by drag queens lent to the excitement and color of the event.
“The event was a huge success,” says Phil Cooper, founder of HighMinded Events. “We took a risk to make a point that events are powerful ways to communicate cannabis and to show it in a positive light and ultimately break the stigma and it really paid off,” he said.
“Eden was a great spot for this event,” he continued. “What we were able to do, with Jodi’s (founder of The Paramount Group) help by giving us that kind of space, was a huge success.” The big mural was a perfect background for our stage and DJ, and the flexibility of the indoor-outdoor space was a huge bonus, especially the AC as it was such a hot day!” he said.
“Creating a brand-new event in 6-weeks at the end of a pandemic is really challenging, so it was such a big deal to even have the event,” says Cooper. “We kind of made history”.
Special thank you to all of our sponsors and event attendees for making the event a success. Proceeds from the event were donated to The Last Prisoner Project and Affinity 95.
