Zalympix is the cannabis competition nicknamed the Grammys of cannabis — created by Los Angeles dispensary Greenwolf and run in two stages, with industry judges narrowing an unbranded field before the public takes over through judge kits and a People's Choice vote. It runs yearly editions in California, Michigan and Oklahoma; Michigan crowns its 2026 winners September 19.
Two Rounds, No Labels
The preliminary round costs nothing to enter and carries no logos: licensed cultivators submit unbranded entries, and an industry panel cuts the field to finalists. Then the clock starts — finalists get 120 days or more to flower and harvest a fresh batch for the finals, so what the public judges is a live crop, not a vault jar.
Final-round entries stay unbranded too, to keep favoritism out of the scoring. Judge kits sell through retail partners with tickets to the awards ceremony built in, and winners come from two directions at once: the public's People's Choice vote and an industry bracket scored by the panel.
The field is not small, either — the 2026 cycle logged 108 preliminary entries from licensed cultivators before the panel made its first cut, and finalists are announced publicly only after they make it through. Until that reveal, nobody judging knows whose jar they are holding, which is the whole integrity play.
Out of Greenwolf's Los Angeles
Greenwolf — an LA fixture since 2006 — built Zalympix to put consumers in the judging seat, and the ceremonies have carried LA weight from the start — Gucci Mane, Xzibit, Jadakiss and Curren$y have all performed at Zalympix nights. The awards land about a month after kits go on sale, so the party is the deadline: buy the box, score it, show up to see if your picks won.
From that California base the competition grew into a multi-state circuit. Oklahoma joined the map in 2026 with a first-ever edition run alongside local partners, slotting in ahead of the California championships and the fall Michigan run — three state seasons in one calendar year, each with its own entries, kits and ceremony.
The Michigan Chapter
Michigan has become the competition's second home, organized by Exotic Matter — a Michigan cultivator that supplies the judge kits and keeps its own products out of the running, which is exactly the kind of rule that makes a people's-choice result worth trusting. The 2025 edition, the state's fourth, offered 200 flower boxes and 200 rosin boxes at $260 each, every one carrying about two dozen entries and an invite to the awards party.
The 2025 awards night at the Crofoot in Pontiac put real names on the board: Lantz by Hytek took Best Overall Flower, and Banana Peelz by Rkive took Best Overall Rosin. Results like those move product in this state — a people's-choice win is retail-shelf language.
The 2026 Michigan cycle runs with Exotic Matter and The Refinery Provisioning Center as local partners: preliminary submissions closed in March, finalists submitted fresh harvests in July, judge kits released August 8, public voting closes September 17, and the Michigan awards ceremony lands September 19.
Why the Nickname Stuck
Plenty of cups borrow the people's-choice label; Zalympix engineered for it — free unbranded entry, blind judging in both rounds, fresh-harvest finals and an organizer that recuses its own flower. That is why the nickname stuck.
If you live in a Zalympix state, the judge kit is the move: the finalists arrive in one box and the awards ticket comes with it. Season schedules run through the official Zalympix site, and our events calendar carries the ceremonies as they are announced.