Top 10 Cannabis Competitions Internationally
These are ten cannabis competitions that are still running, checked against each organizer’s own site or published results in October 2026. Growers follow cups for a simple reason. A placing is feedback on a sample from judges who did not grow it, and that is hard to get any other way. Each entry below gives you where the cup runs, when it usually runs, the latest verified edition, what gets judged and where to check. Dates and rules change every year. Look at the official site before you plan an entry or a trip.
How These Ten Were Picked
A cup made this list only if its own site, or the organizer’s published results, showed an edition held in 2025 or 2026 or a dated next edition. The Emerald Cup is the one exception. Every cup here judges entries. Trade fairs with no cup are out. The order is not a ranking by size or reputation. The first four are long running flagship cups, and the other six are newer or more specialist. A few names from older lists are gone, and the Retired and Renamed Events section near the end says what happened to them.
What Judges Usually Score
Classes change from cup to cup. The scoring basics stay close. Judges look at the bud first: shape, trim and how much trichome cover it carries. To see what a judge sees, our trichome cover up close guide shows the heads and their colors. In its hemp flower production guide, UVM Extension notes that trichomes are easy to observe at about 60x and range from clear to amber as the flowers mature.
Aroma and flavor come next, along with how well a sample presses if it is going into rosin. A rushed dry shows up here. Writing about hemp, OSU Extension’s post harvest page advises choosing a trimming method that keeps trichomes intact, and our tips on drying and storing buds cover the steps after the chop. For hash and rosin, judges also score texture and color.
Who scores counts as much as what gets scored. Community cups sell judge kits or jury cards to the public. Jury cups use a closed panel. Some cups also send samples to a lab before judging.
The Top 10 International Cannabis Competitions
1. High Times Cannabis Cup (United States and Latin America)
The High Times Cannabis Cup is the name many growers know first, but it works differently than you might expect. No single global event runs now. In the US, the cup runs state by state in legal markets, and each edition covers product from that state. In 2026 High Times also licensed editions in Argentina and Puerto Rico. The US editions are judged by the community. Consumers buy official judge kits, score what is inside, and those scores decide the winners. When I look at a cup, I check who judges it. Here a placing reflects what a crowd of buyers thought of a sample, not a small panel.
Where: US states with legal markets, one state per edition, plus 2026 editions in Buenos Aires and San Juan, Puerto Rico
Usually runs: Several state editions through the year
Latest verified edition: 2026, with Massachusetts registration and New York preregistration open on the official site
What gets judged: In the US editions, products from the host state, scored by consumers with official judge kits
Check: cannabiscup.com
2. The Emerald Cup (California, United States)
The Emerald Cup is a cannabis competition held in California. Before you build anything around it, go to the official site and read the current categories, entry rules and dates.
Where: California, United States
Usually runs: Check the official site for current dates
Latest verified edition: Look up the newest edition on the official site
What gets judged: See the current categories on the official site
Check: theemeraldcup.com
3. Spannabis Champions Cup (Bilbao, Spain)
The Spannabis Champions Cup runs alongside Spannabis, the Spanish hemp fair, which now sits in Bilbao rather than Barcelona. Its results pages go back to 2008, and the 2026 winners are posted by class. The classes are easy for a grower to read: sativa, indica, hash and rosin, plus one more flower class. Samples for the 2027 cup go in from January 1 to 31, 2027, and the awards gala is set for March 12, 2027 at the Bilbao Exhibition Centre. That January window comes fast after a fall harvest.
Where: Bilbao Exhibition Centre (BEC), Barakaldo, Bizkaia, Spain
Usually runs: Each spring with the Spannabis fair. The 2027 fair runs March 12 to 14, 2027
Latest verified edition: 2026, with results posted. The 2027 gala is set for March 12, 2027
What gets judged: Sativa, indica, hash and rosin, plus one more flower class
Check: spannabis.es and cannabischampionscup.com
4. HighLife Cup
The HighLife Cup sorts entries into three groups: seeds entered by breeders, coffeeshop products and products from growers in the weed experiment. A jury scores the samples, and the points are published with the results. I like that, because a score tells you more than a ribbon does. No standalone site for the cup turned up, so its 2026 results come from a published results page dated June 4, 2026.
Where: Not stated on the 2026 results page
Usually runs: The 2026 results were published June 4, 2026
Latest verified edition: 2026, with jury points posted for each placing
What gets judged: Seeds, weed and hash by type, including indica, sativa, autoflower, outdoor, old school, North American imports, house favorites, hash and edibles
Check: No standalone cup site was found. The 2026 results page is listed under Sources
5. International Cannabis Awards (Barcelona, Spain)
The International Cannabis Awards work differently from the other cups here. The first edition was set for La Llotja de Mar in Barcelona in March 2024. The 2025 edition ran online, and its categories were industry awards for things like nutrients, lighting, cultivation and nurseries, plus awards for people in the field. Voting closed with a final round on the top six in each category. So read a placing here as an industry vote, not as a judged flower sample.
Where: Barcelona, Spain. The 2025 edition was held online
Usually runs: Early spring, with the 2025 final vote closing March 15, 2025
Latest verified edition: 2025, held online with winners posted. 2026 gala announced, check the official site
What gets judged: Industry and people awards, with a final vote on the top six in each category
Check: internationalcannabisawards.com
6. CannaSwissCup (Switzerland)
CannaSwissCup has run in Switzerland since 1998 and opened to producers from other countries for the 2025/26 season. It mixes a jury with the public. Samples go to a certified lab before judging, VIP jury days pick the varieties that make the jury cards, and then anyone who buys a card can score them and vote. Producers send 950 g of each variety they enter, so to me it is a cup for commercial producers more than home growers. The award show is part of CannaTrade.
Where: Switzerland, with the award show held at CannaTrade
Usually runs: Registration until December 31, samples by mid January, jury cards from mid February and the award show in late May
Latest verified edition: 2025/26, award show May 30, 2026, winners posted
What gets judged: Indoor, outdoor, greenhouse and hash entries
Check: cannaswisscup.ch
7. Autoflower World Cup (Berlin, Germany)
The Autoflower World Cup judges autoflowers and nothing else. It ran five editions in Barcelona before moving its sixth to Berlin during Mary Jane Berlin week. A panel of judges scored the 2026 entries from June 10 to 12, and the awards night followed on June 13 aboard a boat on the Spree. Home growers have entered here next to established breeders, and the winners pages show how each judge scored an entry.
Where: Berlin, Germany, during Mary Jane Berlin week. Editions one to five were in Barcelona
Usually runs: Once a year. The 2026 judging ran June 10 to 12
Latest verified edition: 6th edition, awards night June 13, 2026
What gets judged: Autoflower entries in several classes, including new autoflowers and breeder awards
Check: autoflowerworldcup.com
8. Clouds in the City Berlin Cup (Berlin, Germany)
Clouds in the City runs cups judged by people who buy VIP judge passes. Its Berlin Cup held its first edition in June 2026, with samples handed in on June 11 and 12, judging on June 13 and results on June 14. The classes cover flower and solventless hash, which is useful if you make hash at home and want to see how washes and sifts get scored. A second Berlin edition is already set for June 11 to 14, 2027.
Where: Berlin, Germany
Usually runs: June. The 2027 Berlin Cup is set for June 11 to 14, 2027
Latest verified edition: Berlin Cup, June 11 to 14, 2026
What gets judged: Sativa, indica, Californian flower, dry sift hash, water hash, rosin and edibles
Check: cloudsinthecitycup.com
9. Calyx Art Cup
The Calyx Art Cup is a small, focused cup for flower and hash. Entrants can send up to two samples per category, and the entry form asks for grow notes such as light setup, feeding and growing medium. Entry runs through an app built for anonymous access, and competitors register under a nickname or brand. I like any cup that asks how a sample was grown, because that turns a placing into something you can learn from.
Where: Not shown on the official entry page. Entrants get details by email
Usually runs: Autumn. The 2026 sample registration closed October 9, 2026
Latest verified edition: 2026, with registration closed and samples due October 15 to 20, 2026
What gets judged: Flower, dry sift hash, hash rosin and hash holes
Check: calyxartclub.eu
10. MJ Cup
The MJ Cup is new in name only. Its organizers ran the Jack Herer Cup Amsterdam for years and switched to the new name after the 7th and last Jack Herer Cup Amsterdam on September 6, 2025. The first MJ Cup took place on September 5, 2026, and results are posted. It splits entries into Legacy Awards, for gray area products, and Experiment Awards, for products from the coffeeshop experiment. That split lets you compare the two supply chains side by side.
Where: Not stated as a city or country on the official site
Usually runs: Early September
Latest verified edition: First MJ Cup, September 5, 2026, with results posted
What gets judged: Products in two groups, Legacy Awards and Experiment Awards
Check: mjcupevents.com
Tips for Home Growers Thinking About Entering
Start with the rules, not the trophy. Many cups only accept product that is legal where the cup runs. Read each cup’s entry terms and look up the law where you live before anything else.
Deadlines come early. The Calyx Art Cup closed its 2026 sample registration on October 9, days before samples were due. CannaSwissCup takes registrations months before its award show, and the Spannabis Champions Cup wants samples in January for a March gala.
Sample sizes vary a lot. CannaSwissCup asks for 950 g per variety, which is more than many home grows produce in a run. Cups that take small samples, like the Calyx Art Cup with up to two samples per category, suit home growers better.
Keep grow notes from the start. Some entry forms ask for your light, feed and medium, and notes help you learn from the score sheet either way. Keep samples sealed and handle them gently, so the judges see the flower you grew.
If autoflowers are your thing, the Autoflower World Cup has taken entries from home growers alongside breeders, and our autoflower seeds are a good place to start. If you are eyeing a hash or rosin class, read up on how home growers make hash before you commit.
Retired and Renamed Events
Some names that used to appear on lists like this are gone. The original Amsterdam Cannabis Cup now sits on the High Times list of past events, and its current cups run state by state in the US, plus 2026 editions in Argentina and Puerto Rico. The Jack Herer Cup Amsterdam held its 7th and last edition under that name on September 6, 2025, and the same team now runs the MJ Cup. Cultiva in Vienna is still running as a hemp expo, with its 2026 show held October 2 to 4, but its program lists no judged cup. Other older entries were trade fairs or business conferences rather than judged cups, so they are not here.
Where Kind Seed Co Fits
At Kind Seed Co, I would rather see growers start with genetics they enjoy growing than chase a trophy. Grow them well and keep good notes. If a cup near you takes home entries, let the judges tell you how your harvest turned out.
Sources
- University of Vermont Extension, Industrial Hemp for Flower Production: https://www.uvm.edu/d10-files/documents/2024-06/2020_Hemp_101.pdf
- Oregon State University Extension, Post-harvest processing of hemp flowers: https://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/post-harvest-processing-hemp-flowers
- Soft Secrets, HighLife Cup 2026: Dit Zijn de Winnaars (HighLife Cup 2026 results): https://softsecrets.com/nl/artikel/highlife-cup-2026
- High Times, High Times Cannabis Cup Lands in Latin America: Argentina in October, Puerto Rico in December: https://hightimes.com/events/cannabis-cup/cannabis-cup-argentina-puerto-rico-2026/
FAQ
Are these cannabis competitions still running?
Nine of the ten showed a 2025 or 2026 edition, or a dated next edition, on the organizer's own site or published results in October 2026. For the Emerald Cup, go straight to its own site. Dates move every year, so confirm on the official site before you plan.
Can home growers enter a cannabis cup?
Some cups take home growers. The Autoflower World Cup has judged home grower entries next to breeders, and the Calyx Art Cup takes entries under a nickname or brand. Many cups only accept product that is legal where they run, so read the entry rules and know the law where you live.
What do judges usually score?
Judges usually score the look of the bud and its trichome cover, aroma, flavor and how well it presses for rosin. A rushed dry or rough handling shows up in those scores. Hash and rosin classes also look at texture and color.
What happened to the Amsterdam Cannabis Cup?
The original Amsterdam Cannabis Cup is listed among the past events on the High Times cup site. Its current cups run state by state in US legal markets, plus 2026 editions in Argentina and Puerto Rico. In Amsterdam, the Jack Herer Cup ended under that name in 2025 and its organizers now run the MJ Cup.
How does a jury cup differ from a community judged cup?
A jury cup uses a closed panel of judges, as the HighLife Cup and the Autoflower World Cup do. A community judged cup lets the public score entries by buying judge kits, jury cards or judge passes, as the US editions of the High Times Cannabis Cup and the Clouds in the City Berlin Cup do. CannaSwissCup mixes both, with VIP jury days before the public vote.
