It’s been almost a month since the Denver Mart denied the application for the High Times Cannabis Cup slated to take place near the unofficial stoner holiday 4/20. Since then we’ve discovered that High Times was already considering moving to a larger location that would be able to accommodate the larger crowds they expect to see in coming years.
Unfortunately, things did not progress at the rate needed for the “show to go on” so to speak. The High Times Cannabis Cup in Colorado has now been canceled – the permit application for Pueblo County has been withdrawn and the April event is now destined to take place in San Bernardino California – where the 2016 So-Cal Medical Cup was held just recently.
The event was originally expected to pursue the location called The Yard in Pueblo Colorado and would have taken place April 16th-18th. It’s unfortunate that we won’t be seeing a Colorado 4/20 Cup this year – however they haven’t left Colorado completely in the dust. There will still be a Cannabis Cup awards as well as concerts on April 19th – however it will not feature the usual expo and adult-use area that comes with the full Cannabis Cup event.
It is imperative that we work with city officials to satisfy all their requirements so that we can host the best Cannabis Cup experience possible. Over the past two weeks, HIGH TIMES worked closely with city officials in Pueblo, Colorado to secure a permit for a Cannabis Cup in that city. Our negotiations were friendly and progress was being made. However, our busy calendar of upcoming events persuaded us that the better decision was to host a full Cannabis Cup in Colorado at a later date. Our goal is to make sure that every Cannabis Cup is a quality event. –High Times to The Cannabist
While for the time being another epic Colorado event is off the table, that doesn’t mean it will be forever. From the sounds of it, lots of good progress was made with the finding of the Pueblo location – there just wasn’t enough time to work out all the finer details between the County and High Times. Even if permits had gone through, it might not have been in time to have the event up to the expected standards after years past.
“I’m hopeful we can do the U.S. Cannabis Cup in Colorado, for sure,” he (High Times COO Larry Liniesky said.
So hopefully no one made travel arrangements ahead of time – if not, you can still attend the April 19th event, which is still sure to be a blast! (Just remember to toke up before you head to the event!)
There is still a lot about legalization that needs to be worked on and worked out so that issues like these don’t happen – but it’s a learning process for everyone after decades of prohibition – and in the end the seemingly endless journey will be worth it.
