The Story Behind Making the NCF Masks
This Spring, when NCF was postponed due to concerns around the COVID-19 pandemic, we found ourselves with a whole lot of plans to reschedule and a whole lot of t-shirts celebrating our 5th anniversary event.
We knew that we could reschedule plans, but printed t-shirts were another story. Each shirt had the April date for the festival prominently featured on the back, and while having a memento of “the 2020 festival that didn’t happen” might be appealing to some of our fans, we wanted to find other creative ways to use the shirts. That’s when the idea to turn the shirts into masks was born. So, we decided to find a local seamstress to make masks for us to sell online with all proceeds going to the Community Justice Exchange.
“A memento of ‘the 2020 festival that didn’t happen’...”
Color Tie-Dye Mask
After a few days of searching for a seamstress, we were introduced to Sarah, a woman from El Salvador living in Northern Virginia. Since her regular employer closed because of COVID and she was not eligible for unemployment, she started a business out of her home making decorative masks. The first few conversations were pretty funny. Let’s just say she hadn’t received many boxes full of cannabis festival t-shirts from other clients in the past, and in her culture the cannabis stigma is still alive and well.
After telling her a bit about the festival and why we were cutting up brand new shirts to turn into masks, she was ready to help make our canna-mask dreams come true! Over the next few days Sarah called and texted with questions about the shirts as she made the masks. At first, she was worried about including the text from the shirts on the masks because each mask would look totally different (since they were all being cut from different sections of the shirts). We really liked the idea of unique mask designs and told her not to worry about the text and to keep sewing/going.
Black Tie-Dye Mask
One week later Sarah and her husband delivered the masks. When we opened the boxes we couldn’t believe how awesome they looked. Each mask was different, sewn with care and with thick elastic straps securing the fabric and looping comfortably behind the ears. She also individually wrapped each mask, making sure each one lay flat in the packaging before piling them together for delivery. After Sarah left, we each selected a packaged mask to make our own before taking photos and putting them up in our online shop.
Masks are available now!
1 Mask (Black or Multi-Color) - $15.00 + tax and shipping
2 Masks (Black, Multi-Color or Mix) - $25.00 + tax and shipping
4 Masks (Black, Multi-Color or Mix) - $45.00 + tax and shipping
NCF has a lot of cool merch. From pipes to bongs to frisbees and hoodies — we’ve had some fun over the years. These masks feel extra-special though. Maybe it’s because they represent a really tough year that made us appreciate the amazing people that make up the NCF community, or maybe it’s because they give us a chance to give back, stay safe and look fly/high. We’re not sure, but we hope that you’ll check out the masks and if you decide to buy one we hope you’ll enjoy your one-of-a-kind memento of “the 2020 festival that never happened”!