An artistic rendering of the prepared Smokey River Entertainment District. // Courtesy of BesaMe Wellness/Joey Pintozzi
President of Besa Hospitality Team, Joey Pintozzi, and Vice President Bobby Lessany alongside with CEO Jack Mitchell are producing a multifaceted entertainment venue along the scenic Missouri River identified as the Smokey River Leisure District. Growth is underway on the new space, which will showcase audio, artwork, delicacies, and a lot more at its situations. The venue is situated off 291 Freeway in River Bend, MO, just east of downtown Kansas Metropolis.
The Smokey River Leisure District will attribute an outside amphitheater, 2 indoor clubs & music halls for dining and consuming, and designated cannabis usage lounges.
Operator Joey Pintozzi is from the Kansas Metropolis place originally, and he is the previous proprietor of KC venue The Static Bar. He then used over 15 yrs running, marketing and advertising and advertising bars and nightclubs in Las Vegas’s nightlife scene just before performing at Hard Rock Worldwide in Southern Florida. Right after the pandemic, Pintozzi discovered himself returning to his Kansas Town roots, and joining BesaMe Wellness cannabis retail crew prior to aiding launch BHG (Besa Hospitality Group).
Besa Hospitality Group’s mission, in accordance to Pintozzi, is “normalizing hashish by means of hospitality.” He partnered up with Lessany, who has a heritage of running and operating nightlife venues in Dubai, Houston, and Las Vegas, and they brought their vision to daily life.
“Cannabis will be element of the experience,” Pintozzi claims.
When Besa Hospitality Group founder and CEO Jack Mitchell observed the obtainable space in River Bend, he had the thought to increase Besa Hospitality Team with the Smokey River Leisure District. The room struck him as an possibility not only to give a wanted new venue for enjoyment and arts in Kansas City but also to even more BHG’s mission of normalizing cannabis now that leisure cannabis has been legalized in Missouri.
“Just like alcohol and tobacco, you’re likely to have designated regions where you can lawfully take in and be yourself, exactly where you can have that normalization,” Pintozzi suggests of the new venue space. “It’s not just an enjoyment district that has authorized hashish. If you really do not want to be close to it, you never have to be close to it. There will be entertainment for all to enjoy”.
The Smokey River Amusement District is kicking off with the Smokey River 420 Pageant on—you guessed it—April 20. This will be the to start with festival in the condition of Missouri that pays homage to lawful cannabis, according to Pintozzi.
“We’re likely to develop a huge live performance and have about a 10,000-individual capability,” Pintozzi says. “And to the facet of the amphitheater, we’re creating a vendor village that will characteristic cannabis and cannabis manufacturers.”
The Smokey River 420 Festival will also characteristic meals and beverage vendors. Pintozzi states he’s in talks with countrywide music functions for the festival’s all-working day concert.
Other situations in the will work consist of a Fourth of July festival honoring veterans and an conclusion-of-summer season festival, with the day to be established.
“You can bring the family members out if you want. They never have to be all around cannabis. But people who want to eat, will have the independence to do so,” Pintozzi says. “We’re going to have a incredibly risk-free, responsible location that features all these choices for people today.”
By 2024, the Smokey River Amusement District options to employ an indoor audio corridor as perfectly, and recurrent Riverwalk events that includes foodstuff and beverage principles, outdoor art walks and tunes situations, and lodging for the family such as a skate park and playground and, possibly, an Esports lounge.
Pintozzi phone calls the Smokey River Leisure District “progress not just for us, but for the place as nicely. We want it to be accountable and risk-free as we celebrate the conclusion of prohibition.”
