The first-ever Cannabis Cup scheduled for Central California is being postponed until 2016 after initial permit applications were denied by the city of Lemoore and to allow event organizers to secure a venue that is better suited for this growing event series.

After permit requests to secure the Lemoore Raceway were rejected by the city, and without proper lead time to appeal, High Times is rescheduling the Hallo-weed Medical Cup, originally scheduled for October 31 and November 1, until next year. High Times will also re-locate this Cannabis Cup event, the first to be sited in the central part of the state, to another Central California venue.

Ticket sales have been brisk for this trade and consumer event slated for later this month, which was expected to draw 5,000-6,000 attendees interested in visiting an array of vendors and seminars related to the cannabis industry. Medical marijuana, which has been legally for sale for by hundreds of medical retailers since 2000 in California, is a booming business, and Lemoore was expected to be the third location in the state for this high-quality, informative and entertaining gathering.

We are disappointed that city planners did not approve our permit application and did not grant us a reasonable amount of time to appeal. We regret that our efforts to bring a Cannabis Cup to the central region must wait until 2016, but as the leading arbiter of the cannabis industry, we want to make sure every event we produce is up to our high standards. Delaying it until next year will allow us to do that.

For the many people who have already purchased tickets for the event this fall, we are offering a full transfer of those purchased tickets to the High Times Medical Cannabis Cup in San Bernardino in early 2016. This event will take place on two consecutive weekends — Jan 30-31 and February 5-7 — and will be one of the biggest Cannabis Cups held in High Times history.