JournalJournal
Collin Johnson
Downtown Los Angeles baked on Saturday, October 3rd for this year’s Puffcon. It ranked among the hottest days the city saw all year. Thousands of people still packed into Los Angeles Center Studios anyway, a Puffco in one hand and a water bottle in the other.
Blackleaf and I were two of them. We split up, worked the lot from different angles, compared notes, and kept dabbing for the greater good. Here is Puffcon 2026 through both sets of eyes.
Puffco builds the devices. Puffcon gathers the people who use them. The Los Angeles company launched in 2013 under founder and CEO Roger Volodarsky, and its Peak, Peak Pro, Proxy, and Pivot now sit at the center of concentrate culture.
Puffco threw the first PuffCon in 2021 to bring its scattered community together in a space where consumption was welcome. The block party grew fast. By 2023 it reported more than 6,000 attendees. In 2025 it stretched to two full days and opened Sunday to the general public for the first time.
Hash culture has no shortage of cups and competitions. Puffcon plays a different role. It works as the annual check-in for the entire concentrate world: hashmakers, growers, glassblowers, brand builders, and the heads who buy from all of them. Puffco bills it as the biggest hash celebration on the planet. After walking the lot on Saturday, we can't argue.
The sixth annual Puffcon took over Los Angeles Center Studios at 450 S Bixel St in Downtown LA on Saturday, October 3 and Sunday, October 4. Saturday opened at 2 p.m. and closed its gates at 9 p.m.
Saturday and two-day passes required attendees to own a qualifying Puffco device. Sunday GA stayed open to anyone 21 and up. This year's footprint packed in more than 100 glass artists, 50-plus brand activations, and a food lineup curated by Smorgasburg LA.
I made a full lap before settling anywhere. My first real stop came at the Kalya and Community Cannabis booth, where Tito Packs rolled hash holes all afternoon. Each one paired flower from Mechanics Farm in New York with East Coast Kalya live rosin.
That combo captured this year's Puffcon perfectly. New York flower and East Coast rosin, rolled by hand and smoked in the middle of DTLA.
Watch: Mechanics Farm on First Smoke of the Day
Next up, Pioneer Farms. Their team pushed a lineup of incredible Zikigai Garden genetics from Exotiks, and I took my time with every jar. I walked away with some standout Z live rosin from Pioneer's Oregon operation for the ride home.
As soon as I saw the Lionboldt Farms booth, I had to pull up and see what's fresh. Naturally, as soon as I got a whiff of their Z I had to have it. The guys were incredibly nice as per usual and hooked me up with a seriously stuffed jar. I later rolled up a 2g bat of that same flower.
No Puffcon lap feels complete without Space Gem. I swung by to pay my respects to the legend and hash queen herself, Wendy. She and her team rolled out in matching outfits that felt tennis-inspired. Collectively, they brought the same ray of sunshine energy that Wendy seems to bring everywhere she goes.
Blackleaf's highlight of the day sat at the Zushi spot. Natasha, better known as @Natashahasthemunchies, drew a steady crowd with her Zushi collab. She also has a gummy brand on the way called Starters, which she built alongside her husband and Stacks from The TenCo.
Stacks goes way back with First Smoke of the Day. His sit-down ranks among the earliest episodes on our YouTube channel, and it hits even harder now.
Listen: First Smoke of the Day: The Ten Co, Episode 27
TerpsArmy's booth also made Blackleaf's short list. Feel Good, though, owned the longest line at Puffcon. At least a hundred people stood in it at any given moment, nonstop, from open to close.
And you can't talk about Puffcon this year without the Simply Mary activation. Its line never shrank as curious customers cycled in and out all day purchasing some of California’s most cutting-edge genetics and artisanal smoke.
For Blackleaf, the real magic lived in the names you rarely catch in Los Angeles. Soi Cubano. The Colorado guys. NorCal Nemo. Players from all over the country who almost never pop out, all on one lot with their work ready to share.
"Seeing players from all over the nation that never pop out and getting to try some of their work, that's what it's all about for me," Blackleaf said. "I got to smoke Alaskan weed!"
Puffcon doubled as a reunion for us in a lot of ways. A long list of past First Smoke of the Day guests held it down on Saturday that we were able to see and pay our respects to.
Wooksauce Winery pulled up and kept the hash heads happy. If you haven't caught his episode yet, start here.
Trichadelics brought his full collab lineup to the lot. Few hashmakers command that kind of respect from other hashmakers, and his booth showed why.
Dab Life brought the most creative gear of the day. Their graffiti artist showed off a working graffiti marker that unscrews to hold 2 grams of rosin. He also carried a mini spray can with a rosin stash inside that still sprays like the real thing. Fitting touch, since Puffcon banned actual spray paint and giant markers at the gate.
Alien Labs held down a booth with Smoken Promises. Both camps have deep roots on our channel, so we're pairing two episodes here.
Serge was posted up at his booth showing off the latest heat. Fidel also had a big, eye-catching booth set up. You had to see it in person to believe it.
Dave from Preferred Gardens worked behind a booth for most of Saturday. That tracks. Dave has never been the type to send someone else to do the talking.
What stood out most to me was the range of brands from up and down the West Coast. I met a ton of brands and glass artists from all over Oregon alone.
Puffcon pulls in Oregon, California, and even Alaska without anyone feeling like they're competing. The reason is simple. Puffco is a technology company, not a brand selling cannabis. The host has no flower or rosin on the shelf, so every brand on the lot gets to show up as itself.
The tents set aside for glass artists stayed packed the entire time Blackleaf and I were there. People walked out with custom pieces to outfit their Puffco rigs, one after another. Puffco's featured 2026 glass artists included Ryan Fitt from Santa Rosa, Spider from Jacksonville, Oregon, Lissa Melts and Pakoh from Los Angeles, and Reyna Rivera from Wrightwood.
The entertainment on Saturday was top notch. OhGeesy, BIA, Curren$y, and The Alchemist with Boldy James lit up the evening as the heat finally broke. Metro Boomin closed the night as Saturday's headliner. Kirk Summers and Dilly also played Saturday.
Sunday handed the stage to Action Bronson and The Human Growth Hormone. Bronson has been a Puffcon staple since the very first edition. Know Good, 2 Dead Boyz (Zombie Juice and Meech of Flatbush Zombies), TiaCorine, and GBoH rounded out the Sunday bill, and Jesse Royal and Kittamami also performed over the weekend.
Blackleaf puts Puffcon in rare company. "I'd put this event next to Zalympix for what to go to every year in LA if you want to see what everyone's up to in the space," he said.
He also sees room to grow. "Where I see it going, maybe they could include other states more formally," Blackleaf said. "It should be the CO section, the OR section, the CA section, if they could get it to that it’d be massive."
It's a fair ask. Saturday already proved the demand. Alaska flower, Oregon glass, New York rosin, and California growers all shared the same few blocks without any friction. Give each state its own section and Puffcon becomes a walkable map of American hash culture.
We'll be back next October to see if they pull it off again. Until then, catch full episodes with the people who made Saturday special on the First Smoke of the Day YouTube channel, and find exclusive content at fsotd.com.
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