Weed festivals near Portland: Hempstalk, the Leaf Bowl and Oregon’s rules

Portland’s most famous weed festival was a protest with a stage. Hempstalk began in 2005, ran every September with live music, food and speakers, and asked for a $10 donation at the gate. By 2013 its organizers estimated 60,000 people came to Kelley Point Park over two days. It moved downtown to Tom McCall Waterfront Park for 2014 to 2016, and then it stopped.

Weed festivals in Oregon look different now. The big gatherings are competitions like the Oregon Leaf Bowl and business shows like The Exchange, and Oregon’s 2026 rules keep samples and consumption away from the public at trade events. Here is what the scene looks like, where it came from, and what the law allows.

Last reviewed: November 2026.

Weed festivals in Portland: the Hempstalk years

The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation founded Hempstalk, and its founder Paul Stanford presented it for years. The festival was built around advocacy: the organizers wanted marijuana decriminalized for medical, industrial and recreational use, and the program mixed bands and food vendors with information booths and speeches. Stanford’s own summary of the point was plain: “Hempstalk is about the many uses of agricultural hemp fiber, oil, protein, fuel and medicine.” The other half of the message was ending adult prohibition, letting adults grow their own and licensing legal sales. Within a few years the festival was celebrating in a state where adult use was legal.

In 2009 it moved to Kelley Point Park, at the far northwest tip of Portland where the Columbia meets the Willamette. The 2014 to 2016 editions came downtown to the riverfront park. The organizer’s site still has posters and photos from past years, which makes it a good scrapbook of the city’s cannabis politics.

The Oregon Leaf Bowl: a harvest contest in Sandy

The closest thing to a festival today is a competition. In the Leaf Bowl, run by Leaf Magazines, Oregon growers and processors enter their flower, concentrates and edibles in head-to-head categories for trophies. The 2026 edition, in May, was held at Camp Tasty in rural Sandy, east of Portland, with open fields and a creek alongside. The organizer’s recap describes a warm, sunny spring day, about 50 vendor booths ringing a grassy meadow, and an awards ceremony inside a rustic barn on the property.

The organizer counted more than 2,000 attendees in 2026, after about five years of running the event, and described it as feeling more like a community convention than an industry function. Next year’s date comes from the organizer, so watch its site in the spring. If you go, treat it like any rural day out: bring water and layers, and arrange a sober ride home before you leave the city.

The Exchange and other trade shows

The Exchange is a business-to-business meeting where dispensary buyers sit down with brands and vendors. Its 2026 Portland date was September 16 and 17 at the DoubleTree on NE Multnomah Street, and it also runs in Eugene. It is useful if you work in the industry; it is not a public festival.

Oregon tightened the rules for events like this. The OLCC’s CE2025-07 bulletin explains that from January 2026, approved licensees can hand trade samples only to other licensees and permitted workers, never to the general public, and that consumption of marijuana, hemp and alcohol is prohibited in the approved event area.

What Oregon law allows at a festival

Oregon’s recreational age is 21, and the OLCC’s consumer FAQ is clear that cannabis is not for use in public places. A cannabis theme does not change that, and neither does a liquor license: the OLCC’s special-event licensing page warns alcohol event licensees against allowing public marijuana use. Enjoy the music and the competition, and save the rest for a private home where it is allowed.

If you shop before or after an event, Oregon’s limits are generous by California standards. According to the OLCC’s purchase limits poster and consumer FAQ, a retailer may sell a recreational customer up to 2 ounces of usable marijuana a day, along with set daily amounts for other forms, such as 10 grams of extracts or concentrates. Adults may carry up to 2 ounces in public and keep up to 8 ounces at home, and a residence may grow four plants, however many adults live there. This is general information, not legal advice.

Two travel rules matter for visitors. Cannabis bought in Oregon stays in Oregon, even if you are heading back to California or Washington, where it is also legal. And nobody should drive after using it. California works differently: there, the state licenses temporary cannabis events with screened 21-and-over consumption areas, which is why a festival with on-site use is possible in Sacramento and not at an Oregon trade show. Book a ride before the event, especially for a rural site like Sandy.

Finding a 420 event near Portland this weekend

Go to organizers, not directories. Competition and trade-show organizers post dates months ahead, and licensed retailers announce their own in-store education events. The City of Portland Cannabis Program handles city policy, if you want to follow the rules themselves.

Before you buy a ticket, ask three things. Is the day open to the public or only to licensees? Where exactly is the venue, inside the city or out in the county? And what does the program include: music, talks, a competition, or vendor booths? A good organizer answers all three on its own site, and the answers tell you whether the trip is worth it.

For shopping, Vibe has two Portland stores, including Vibe Portland 49th Ave at 2407 SE 49th Avenue, OLCC license 050-1014138FB3D. Headed to California later? Our Central Valley cannabis events guide covers how licensed events work there.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• Hempstalk: about the festival (organizer)
• Leaf Magazines: Rehashed, the 2026 Oregon Leaf Bowl (organizer recap, May 2026)
• The Exchange: FAQ (organizer)
• OLCC: CE2025-07 bulletin
• OLCC: recreational marijuana FAQ
• OLCC: recreational purchase limits poster (rev. 2024)
• OLCC: special event licensing
• DCC: cannabis events (California)
• City of Portland Cannabis Program
• Vibe official location directory

For adults 21+ (18+ with a physician’s recommendation in California). Keep out of reach of children and pets. Do not drive or operate machinery after use.