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CANNA MAFIA FAMILY: WHERE EVERYBODY GETS A SEAT AT THE TABLE
There are cannabis events, and then there are cannabis events where you walk through the door and somehow five minutes later you’re talking to somebody you’ve never met like you’ve known them for ten years.
That’s the idea behind Canna Mafia Family.
Despite the name and the mobster-style imagery, this isn’t about crime, gangsters, or anybody sleeping with the fishes. Johnny Applekush, CEO of Canna Mafia Family, says the inspiration is much simpler: family, loyalty, community, and looking out for one another.
And once you hear the story behind it, the name starts making a whole lot more sense.
IT STARTED WITH A TABLE
Johnny says the original idea behind Canna Mafia came from watching his vendor friends spend $200–$300 just to get a table at cannabis events.
Then, after paying all that money, they’d walk into an event and discover a whole bunch of other vendors selling similar products—including the event host.
Johnny thought there had to be a better way.
So he decided to create one.
Canna Mafia was built around a different philosophy: the host makes $0 from vendor fees.
Instead, the money goes directly back into the event—covering rent, security, improvements, giveaways, and creating a better experience for everyone who attends.
And when Johnny says giveaways, he isn’t talking about somebody tossing a sticker into a shopping bag and calling it Christmas.
Canna Mafia has given away more than a pound of flower every week.
The mission was never to get rich off the vendors.
It was to build something with them.
That distinction has become one of the foundations of Canna Mafia Family.
WALK IN AS A STRANGER, LEAVE AS FAMILY
For somebody attending Canna Mafia for the first time, Johnny says the welcome starts at the door.
Regulars and first-timers are treated the same.
People walk in, see the variety of products, hear the music, meet the vendors, and start soaking up the atmosphere.
But the goal isn’t simply to make a sale.
Canna Mafia wants people to stay.
Hang out.
Listen to music.
Talk.
Laugh.
Meet new people.
Fellowship with people who share an appreciation for cannabis culture.
That’s an important difference.
Johnny describes Canna Mafia as an event that feels like a family gathering.
And honestly, if you’ve ever been to a family gathering where everybody is actually getting along, you already know that’s an achievement worth bragging about.
EVERYBODY BRINGS SOMETHING TO THE TABLE
One of the biggest pieces of the Canna Mafia philosophy is the vendor community.
Johnny is quick to give credit to everyone who has participated, because he sees every vendor as part of the bigger picture.
From edibles and concentrates to flower, the goal is to have something for different tastes and different budgets.
On Sundaze in Amsterdam, attendees can find vendors including Jolly Appleseed, Tony Toothpicks, Squids, Transcendent, High Supply Society, Taco, Best Budz, Happy Little Trees, Bud Bros, Home Grown Creations, Frost Kings, Green Queen, Nugg Banditz, Scheymour Frost, H420 Labs, Johnny Applekush and more.
But Johnny makes an important point: Canna Mafia isn’t defined only by the people who are there today.
The vendors who helped build it in the beginning matter.
The vendors who came once matter.
The vendors who are there every week matter.
Everybody contributed something.
That makes the word family more than just branding.
THE OPPOSITE OF GATEKEEPING
When asked how vendors are chosen, Johnny’s answer is refreshingly straightforward:
“We’re family. There’s a spot for everyone. All are welcome.”
That attitude carries directly into how Canna Mafia approaches the cannabis event scene.
Johnny says the crew doesn’t view other events as enemies or competitors.
Instead, he believes in collaboration.
He’ll advertise other people’s events. He’ll put their flyers out at Canna Mafia events. If something benefits the cannabis community, he wants to support it.
It’s an old-school philosophy that seems increasingly rare in a world where everybody sometimes feels like they’re fighting over the same slice of pie.
Johnny’s response?
Make the pie bigger.
He wants to bring back what he describes as an old-school hippie mentality: community, love, and people helping each other.
There doesn’t always have to be an enemy.
There doesn’t always have to be a winner and a loser.
Sometimes everybody can eat.
WHEN PEOPLE SEE “MAFIA,” THEY MISS THE POINT
Of course, the name can create assumptions.
Johnny knows that.
The mobster imagery can make people look at Canna Mafia from the outside and immediately start wondering if somebody’s going to arrive wearing a black suit and asking who “made them an offer they couldn’t refuse.”
But Johnny says the meaning isn’t about the criminal side of the mafia image.
It’s about the ideas of family and loyalty traditionally associated with it.
Having somebody’s back.
Sticking together.
Sitting at the same table and genuinely wanting to see everybody at that table succeed.
That’s the heart of Canna Mafia Family.
TWO PEOPLE WALKED THROUGH THE DOOR
Perhaps the best part of Johnny’s story is also the funniest.
Canna Mafia didn’t begin with enormous crowds, packed rooms, or instant success.
There was a time when it was essentially Johnny Applekush and Jolly Appleseed vending.
And two people showed up.
Two.
That’s it.
Johnny remembers that moment because, naturally, when you’ve put your time, money, energy, and faith into creating an event and two people walk through the door, your brain may begin suggesting alternative hobbies.
But instead of quitting, they kept going.
Johnny says there were times when he would get on Facebook afterward and announce:
“We had a great time! If you missed it, we’ll be back next week!”
Then they came back the next week.
And did it again.
And again.
And again.
Months passed.
Eventually, people started showing up.
Then they started coming back.
That is where the real lesson of Canna Mafia begins.
A slow beginning doesn’t necessarily mean you’ve built a bad idea.
Sometimes it means you haven’t built the audience yet.
Johnny and his crew believed in what they were creating enough to keep showing up when almost nobody else was.
That persistence eventually turned two vendors and two attendees into something much larger.
COLLABORATION OVER COMPETITION
Johnny’s advice to anyone thinking about starting their own cannabis event is simple:
Leave your ego behind.
Then give yourself a reality check.
Having a location, vendors, and great products doesn’t automatically mean people are going to show up.
That’s something Canna Mafia learned the hard way.
But instead of allowing the early struggles to define them, they kept building.
Their approach to competition follows the same philosophy.
Canna Mafia doesn’t want to spend its energy trying to knock somebody else down.
They’d rather work together.
Promote one another.
Share opportunities.
Connect people.
Open doors.
That philosophy is summed up in four words that have become central to the brand:
One family. One love. One plant.
THE UMBRELLA IS GETTING BIGGER
And Johnny says the future of Canna Mafia Family is much bigger than one location or one weekly event.
Canna Mafia Family is proud to be part of a larger community of events and businesses working to bring people together. You can catch some members of the Canna Mafia Family at High on the Hill and Westside Exotics in Amsterdam, both of which continue to support the local community.
Another event worth recognizing is Cris Exotics and the incredible group of vendors they bring together. We’ve had the opportunity to welcome Blissful Confections and Buddha Bros to our event, and we have a great deal of respect for what they bring to the community.
For us, it has never been about competition—it’s about collaboration, supporting one another, and helping the entire community grow together.
Expansion is the plan.
The crew is branching out into different locations, with more events coming.
They’re also preparing for a new Fridaze show beginning in October.
But the long-term goal goes far beyond expanding a calendar.
Johnny wants Canna Mafia Family to become a worldwide community.
The brand isn’t supposed to belong to one vendor, one person, or one event.
It’s an umbrella.
Under that umbrella are individual vendors and entrepreneurs building their own businesses, developing their own identities, and doing their own thing—while still being part of a family that supports them.
They invite one another to events.
They help one another with products.
They promote one another.
They connect people.
They open doors.
The bigger vision is simple:
Wherever you go, you should have family there.
MORE THAN AN EVENT
That’s ultimately what makes the Canna Mafia story interesting.
It would be easy to look at the name, the imagery, the vendors, and the cannabis culture surrounding the events and assume it’s simply another place to shop.
But Johnny’s vision goes deeper than that.
Canna Mafia Family was built around the idea that cannabis culture doesn’t have to be a zero-sum game.
One vendor doesn’t have to lose for another vendor to win.
One event doesn’t have to fail for another event to succeed.
One person’s success doesn’t have to threaten somebody else’s.
There’s room for everybody.
And if everybody at the table is willing to pull up another chair, there’s room for one more.
THE FAMILY REMEMBERS
Johnny’s final message may be the most important one of all.
He wants to thank every person who has supported Canna Mafia Family.
The vendors who show up every week.
The vendors who came once.
The people who helped build the event in the beginning but no longer vend with them.
They’re still family.
They’re still welcome.
Because Johnny hasn’t forgotten where Canna Mafia came from.
Two vendors.
Two people through the door.
A willingness to keep showing up.
And a belief that the idea was worth building.
Somewhere along the way, it stopped being just an event.
It became a family.
And maybe that’s the real story behind the name.
Not the suits.
Not the mobster imagery.
Not the tough-guy reputation.
The family.
The loyalty.
The collaboration.
The belief that when one person succeeds, everybody should have a reason to celebrate.
So if you’re looking for a cannabis gathering where you can meet vendors, discover new products, listen to music, laugh, hang out, and possibly walk away feeling like you just spent the afternoon with people you’ve known forever, Canna Mafia Family might be worth putting on your radar.
Just remember: if Johnny asks you to sit at the table, you might want to bring an appetite.
Because around here, the goal isn’t just to get a seat.
It’s to make sure everybody eats.
ONE FAMILY.
ONE LOVE.
ONE PLANT.
CANNA MAFIA FAMILY
Do you have what it takes to be called family?