About the event
The final event of Zalympix 2026 was the award presentations from a months long competition between cannabis brands and cultivators to be recognized for quality product. Before these competitors can reach the presentation phase they have to be voted into consideration. There are Industry selected awards and People choice awards presented.
In the first phase an industry panel (usually consisting of 28 judges) chosen for their superb palates will smoke all entries and choose who makes it into the final round available to the public. All entries in the preliminary round are submitted in unbranded packaging so judges are not aware of what they are smoking as they vote on the entries.
The second phase public judge kits are sold through retail partners. These entries are also unbranded to eliminate any favoritism or bias.After consuming judge kit, the public judges vote to determine the winners through a “People’s Choice Awards.” Additionally, there is also an industry panel of judges who vote for the industry bracket.
Event Experience
Zalympix was quite the experience, yeah mon. It was at ‘The Beehive’ in LA. I arrived a little before the gates opened. The lines were pretty lengthy for GA and VIP before the gates opened so I left for food. When I came back about 30 minutes later the VIP line was eradicated so in I went in less than 5 minutes. The General Admission line seemed to move quickly as well. Feedback I received from fellow attendees mentioned the brevity of entry.
When I walked in, I was greeted by a casino, some brand activations and a concert area. The area was very spacious with multiple paths filled with vendors to explore. Passing the concert area I arrived at pathways to the indoor activations and the food court was in the back. It was a nice little world to traverse. The weather was beautiful. The people were chill and lovely. It was a good time.
Atmosphere
The energy was very alive, active, chill. People were on all sorts of missions and you could see their excitement and joy throughout. It was a great visual to experience. It is not every day that you see a group of people exhibiting so much joy in a space. People seemed comfortable. I was comfortable for sure. I was dancing like nobody was looking a lot because I felt at home. It was the best cannabis event experience I have had since I moved to California I think. I’ve got an Emerald Cup, Hall of Flowers and now Zalympix as headliners in addition to many others. Zalympix stood out to me.
The music was definitely a plus throughout the event. I don’t remember a time that I heard something I couldn’t at least move a little to. I heard a ton of my favorites and in a good order too. As I look back I realize that the set list worked out well for the duration of time there. Didn’t hear anything too early or too late I would say. Only negative i’d say would be the MCs cutting into songs with no clear purpose other than to ramble.
Product Marketplace
The Marketplace was off the CHAIN! The execution was impressive. After my time there I can remember about 4 or 5 different avenues that were filled with vendors, but you never felt cramped for space. Each vendor had space for their audience. The event traffic flowed pretty smoothly unless you were waiting in a queue. There were some impressive queues, most impressive, Tenco, wow.
The Tenco experience was phenomenal to witness. I couldn’t believe my eyes to be honest. Tenco setup what looked like a retail shop with a restaurant. That was very dope to see. Creativity off the charts and they were surely rewarded for such. If you could have seen the line to get into that activation you would have been shocked, amazed, wowed and some other things. Salute to Tenco and the believers for sure.
I really enjoyed the Marketplace because that is where I was able to connect with brands and people I respect. For 98% of the time the interactions are virtual with many so Zalympix was part of that 2% other. I was able to walk up to the people running brands and have chats. That is of tremendous value to me. I am a person who admires the accomplishments of others so when I have the opportunity to give flowers I do it. It doesn’t work out so great with the internet so in person contact is a nice ability to have. Zalympix is a great medium for that.
Conversations
Zalympix was an opportunity for me to get out of my comfort zone. I’m very good at keeping to myself but I made it a point to say hello to people who’s work I admire. Whether that be brand owners, growers, marketers, distributors, ambassadors, whoever, I had the opportunity to appreciate in person so I did. I was pumped about the number of people I did say hi to but there were some that I missed. Next time.
I talked to a couple of people about things they were liking currently. One that stood out was the Houdini Og which won an award. I am putting it on my to try list because of the feedback I received. The fellow I spoke to was a relatively new smoker who only smoked in the evenings out of a 1 hitter. He told me his favorite was the Houdini OG and that he’d only really smoked that prior to Zalympix. He said he’d smoke joints with his sister and others but he only bought Houdini for the most part. Outside of joints with his sister I’d wondered if he tried anything else and he had. He just kept buying the Houdini after he’d decided against buying the others.
Another conversation was surrounding categories and results. It was an interesting perspective from a fellow who’d attended the previous 3 years. This fellow was dialed in on his history of the event and when results were announced he’d have some choice feedback. His feedback was that of a person tired of hearing certain brands called for wins that had won in previous years. He wasn’t impressed with the who’s and was convinced something inorganic was cooking. This being my first time attending I have no opinion. He made a compelling argument for sure. To me though I think the event accomplished it’s objective.
For the Good
Zalympix California 2026 was a great experience for me. I got to enjoy Los Angeles, eat amazing food, smoke the best weed in the world, attend a dope event and relax. I couldn’t ask for anything better. I am for sure going back next year.
I’m grateful for all the people I got to see, to interact with, to introduce myself to, all that good stuff. I love the love that I experienced at Zalympix. I loved seeing people going after their passion and sharing their joy. It was a dope experience that I hope you some day experience too!
Next up I will share with you the results of the competition. I’ll collect some things of value about the results and write something about it. I know there has been some confusion about what people think are redundant awards so i’ll dig into what that’s all about. Maybe i’ll give some feedback about some of the winners I’ve tried personally. I don’t know. We will see. Til next time, peace!
