Walk the floor at MJBizCon and you will see every layer of the cannabis supply chain in one room — cultivators, manufacturers, distributors, retailers, investors and vendors cutting deals that shape what ends up on dispensary shelves the following year. No THC products are sold, handed out or used at the show; the focus is entirely on business. Organizers cite 20,000-plus professionals, 800-plus exhibitors and 200-plus speakers, which makes it the densest concentration of cannabis-industry decision-makers on the calendar.
What is MJBizCon, and who runs it?
MJBizCon grew out of MJBiz, the trade publisher behind Marijuana Business Daily, co-founded by Anne Holland and Cassandra Farrington. According to the organizer, the company was founded in 2011 and the first conference took place in Denver in 2012, drawing 402 people to a former Masonic Lodge. Colorado and Washington had just voted to legalize adult-use sales, and operators needed somewhere to figure out what came next.
Today the show is produced by Emerald X, the trade-show company that now operates MJBizCon. It bills the 2026 edition as the largest cannabis gathering in the world, and more than a decade in, it has become the calendar's default meeting point — the week the whole supply chain flies to one city.
The important thing to understand: this is a B2B show. The organizer's FAQ states plainly that the general public is not invited. The people walking the floor are founders, buyers, cultivators, extractors, packaging reps, compliance vendors, technology companies and capital. It is closer to a manufacturing and finance convention than a sesh.
How MJBizCon got to Las Vegas
The move to Las Vegas came fast. MJBiz's own history of the show says interest spiked after the federal Cole Memo in October 2013, when a Seattle-area event sold out within 24 hours. Later that year, after Nevada authorized medical cannabis, the conference relocated to the Rio Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
By 2017 it had outgrown the Rio and moved to the Las Vegas Convention Center, where it has stayed. Attendance hit 31,563 in 2019. The 2020 edition went fully online during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the show returned in person in Las Vegas in 2021. The organizer also points to a few choices that shaped its reputation, including a ban on "booth babe" marketing and conference programming built by journalists rather than sales teams.
When and where is MJBizCon 2026?
- Dates: December 1–4, 2026
- Location: Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada
- Format: December 1 is dedicated to pre-show certifications and specialized summits; the expo hall and conference sessions run December 2–4
Las Vegas works for the obvious reasons — hotel capacity, direct flights from every legal market and a convention center big enough to hold the expo hall. Confirm hall assignments, pass tiers and pricing on the official MJBizCon site before you book; those details shift year to year. Our MJBizCon 2026 event listing keeps the essentials in one place.
What actually happens on the floor?
Two things run in parallel: the expo hall and the conference programming.
The expo hall packs 800-plus exhibitors across every vertical of the supply chain — cultivation equipment, extraction hardware, packaging, point-of-sale and compliance software, distribution, testing and ancillary services. Only exhibitors can hand out literature or non-THC samples, and only inside their own booth space.
Organizers map the hall into four neighborhoods so you are not wandering blind: cultivation; retail and dispensary; business services; and processing, packaging and lab services. The conference side brings 200-plus speakers across finance, science, marketing, policy and operations.
| Element | 2026 detail |
|---|---|
| Attendees | 20,000+ industry professionals (organizer figure) |
| Exhibitors | 800+ |
| Speakers | 200+ |
| Pre-show day | December 1 (certifications, summits, The Exchange) |
| Expo and conference | December 2–4 |
The programs built for deal-making
The most useful parts of MJBizCon are the ones designed to put buyers and sellers in the same room. The biggest is The Exchange at MJBizCon, which the organizer describes as curated, private, face-to-face meetings between qualified buyers and sellers. In 2026 it runs on Tuesday, December 1, in two three-hour sessions: 9:30am–12:30pm and 1:30pm–4:30pm.
Buyers apply and are vetted for purchasing authority. Accepted buyers in the Hosted Buyer Program get a complimentary full-access pass and travel support of up to three hotel nights in the MJBizCon block plus $500 in airfare. In exchange, they commit to attending the full event and completing a slate of pre-scheduled one-on-one meetings with exhibitors.
Beyond The Exchange, the 2026 program includes an Investment & Liquidity Summit, Associations Day, deep-dive certifications, an Innovation Stage, state takeovers and meetups, and after-hours networking events — plus MJBowl. For a lot of attendees, the after-hours calendar is where the real relationship-building happens.
Is MJBizCon worth it for you?
Here's the honest read. If you are a brand looking for a distributor, a retailer sourcing new SKUs, an operator comparing vendors or a founder raising money, MJBizCon is the most efficient week on the calendar — you can meet a year's worth of contacts in three days.
If you are a consumer hoping to sample product and hang out, this is the wrong event. The public is not invited, no THC products are allowed and the value is entirely in the meetings you book ahead of time. The people who get the most out of it show up with a target list, not a hope of bumping into the right person.
A few habits separate a productive trip from an expensive one. Book your meetings before you fly, not once you land. If you hold purchasing authority, look at the Hosted Buyer Program before you pay your own way. And pick the neighborhoods that match your business instead of trying to walk all four.
For culture and consumer-facing events, that energy lives elsewhere. MJBizCon is where the business behind the culture gets done.
How does it compare to other cannabis events?
MJBizCon is the biggest, but it is not the only serious B2B date. Hall of Flowers leans more brand-and-buyer showcase — our Hall of Flowers 2026 B2B calendar covers its dates. CHAMPS anchors the glass and smoke-shop trade circuit, with stops like CHAMPS Austin 2026. And MJ Unpacked brings a smaller B2B format to retail and brand operators. We keep the full slate current in the official cannabis industry events calendar.
Frequently asked questions
When is MJBizCon 2026?
December 1–4, 2026, at the Las Vegas Convention Center. December 1 is pre-show certifications, summits and The Exchange; the expo hall and conference run December 2–4.
Can you buy or smoke weed at MJBizCon?
No. MJBizCon is a business-to-business trade show, and the organizer's FAQ states that the use, distribution or sale of any products containing THC is strictly prohibited at the event.
Who should attend MJBizCon?
Operators and the people who serve them: cultivators, manufacturers, brands, retailers, distributors, investors and ancillary vendors in packaging, technology, compliance and testing. The general public is not invited.
How big is MJBizCon?
Organizers cite 20,000-plus professionals, 800-plus exhibitors and 200-plus speakers, and bill it as the largest cannabis gathering in the world. MJBiz reports that attendance reached 31,563 in 2019.
How do buyers get into The Exchange?
By application. The Hosted Buyer Program is open to senior-level executives with purchasing authority who will attend the full event, December 1–4. MJBizCon says application review takes up to five business days, and there is no cost for qualified buyers to participate.
Who owns MJBizCon?
MJBizCon is operated by Emerald X. The show was started by the team behind MJBiz and Marijuana Business Daily, which held its first conference in Denver in 2012.