The Oregon Growers Cup hits its 12th year on Saturday, December 12, 2026, with a members-only awards day at 454 Gravel Pit Lane in Riddle, Oregon, from noon to 6 PM. It's a blind-judged competition for Oregon's licensed producers, medical growers and adult home growers, and the award ceremony is where the trophies finally change hands.
How the judging works
Judges never see a brand or strain name, only an entry number and category. Every entry is screened for pesticides and residual solvents by Rose City Labs, an Oregon-certified cannabis testing lab, and anything that fails doesn't get judged. Judges get their kits two weeks before the event and score each entry from 1 to 5 on taste, look, smell and high, without seeing THC or CBD numbers.
That setup is the point. The organizers are blunt about it: no random judges, no kits a company can buy and have its own staff score, and sponsors only win if they earn it. The 2025 panel included Paul Stanford, Madeline Martinez, John Sajo, Heston Allcorn, Dustin Peden and Brenda Akin, among others from Oregon's legacy community.
Categories and entries
The 2026 competition covers indoor, outdoor and greenhouse or mixed-light flower, hemp flower, 1x1 flower, pre-rolls and infused pre-rolls, edibles, dab concentrates, solventless rosin, cartridges and all-in-one pods, RSO and tinctures, hash and hash holes, topicals, and CBD concentrates. Entries are $250 each, with an intake window of October 1 to December 4, or November 28 for untested product.
GrowMaster is the side bracket worth watching. Instead of entering your own genetics, every contestant grows clones from the same strain, so the only variable left is the grower. It's $250 per entry across indoor, outdoor and greenhouse categories, with two cuts per entry. Winners across the Cup take home a trophy, a custom digital logo and a spot on the Cup's website and social channels.
The awards day
Ngaio Bealum, from Netflix's Cooking on High, hosts. Expect guest speakers, a vendor village, live music, giveaways and swag, canna games, People's Choice and the award ceremony. Admission runs through an annual membership: General is $40 and VIP is $100, both with parking included. VIP adds a swag bag and People's Choice judging access at 1 PM. The event is strictly 21 and over.
The crew behind it has produced the Oregon Growers Cup and Oregon Hempfest since 2015, and marked the Cup's 10-year run in 2024 with a short film and interview series called Growers Cup Legacy. Riddle sits off I-5 in Douglas County, so plan on a southern Oregon road trip rather than a Portland convention hall, and line up a sober ride home.
More cups on the calendar
Following the competition circuit? Legacy Cup lands in Minneapolis on September 26, The Harvest Cup runs in Worcester in November, and more competitions and awards nights are on High Rise events.