Denver 420: High Times Cannabis Cup Demand Strong, Too Strong

As much as I love the cannabis scene home in the Bay Area, three of us were lucky enough to travel and spend this historic 420 weekend in Denver. Being in Colorado to celebrate its first 420 since passing Amendment 64, was both a blast and a privilege. My only regret is that I couldn’t celebrate the holiday in Seattle at the same time, in an equally deserved nod to Washington on I-502!

From the monster traffic getting into Denver from the airport, to the jammed bars and restaurants last Friday, the pent-up demand to ring in this April 20th was palpable. Friday was a fantastic day of sampling great food, great beer and obviously great cannabis with some of our Colorado clan: Prospero, Lateralus and Denver Green Breaker. The team busted out some of Denver’s best edibles, waxes and strains, which continue to stand toe-to-toe with the Bay Area, only 30-50% cheaper.

Press passes in hand and excitement high, we head out on 420 to the High Times Cannabis Cup. As we get closer to the EXDO Event Center, the sheer numbers and excitement level of cannabis nation descending on Denver is a sight to see. However, as we get within a couple of blocks, we see a line that appears to have no beginning or no end, to enter the Cup.

It takes nearly 15 minutes to do a loop/square around the EXDO, covering probably 8 blocks, to get a sense for how huge the line is, whether one is entering or re-entering. Below is just one short segment of the line, but folded arms and other signs of frustration were fairly common to see as folks had to wait hours just to get in.

Since we had press passes, we were extremely fortunate to not have to stand in this confusing and almost-amorphous line for hours. However, things only got more chaotic and condensed inside. In terms of ability to move, it was like being at Times Square on New Year’s Eve (which no native New Yorker wants to do more than once or twice!). It could literally take you 5 minutes to move 100 feet.

Compound feeling like cattle with a serious lack of signage and knowledgeable event staff (we were told we had to pick up press passes once we were let in, but no staff member could tell us where to pick them up), we would spend 10-15 minutes walking down one way to figure out it’s a dead-end and have to fight our way back through the crowds.

There was no wi-fi (same as my 25th Amsterdam Cannabis Cup experience) and cell/data coverage was intermittent at best, making it extremely difficult to keep in touch or cover the event.

High food prices (e.g. $6 for a hot dog) when the venue is out of the city center and if you leave it could take you hours to get back in, was another sore point. There were many fantastic looking products, vendors, and giveaways, but it was simply too over-crowded for me to spend any meaningful time at a given booth. It simply felt too commercial to me, more akin to a Lollapalooza, and trying to maximize profits vs. an event to truly and simply celebrate cannabis culture.

One caveat is if you attended and are a Colorado medical marijuana cardholder, which I am not. Our Colorado writers were able to spend time in the red card area, which apparently was significantly less crowded and a whole lot more enjoyable. They weren’t in shoulder-to-shoulder crowds, able to enjoy the many fantastic handouts (from joints to dime bags to medicated lollipops, etc).

For those who bought a ticket, particularly if they had to spend money to travel from out-of-town, I hope it met their expectations. At the Cup, I still enjoyed amazing cannabis, conversations and witnessing such a strong turnout vs. prior medical-only Cups. Between all the other 420 parties and several hours at the 420 rally in Civic Center Park, Denver was the place to be for April 20th, 2013 for me!

The High Times Cannabis Cup is still a pilgrimage every weedist should make at least once. As recreational cannabis use gains more adoption throughout the US, lets hope High Times focuses on producing top-notch and enduring recreational cannabis events for the people. At the end of the day, we should all be ecstatic that there is such strong demand and support for recreational cannabis events and businesses.