VISTA — The first licensed cannabis event in the San Diego region will be taking place next month at Brengle Terrace Park in Vista, featuring a festival atmosphere with live music, awards and loads of cannabis products for purchase and consumption.
The Farmer’s Cup Awards Sesh will be held from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on March 15 at the Moonlight Amphitheatre, with entry limited to those 21 and up. The event is organized by longtime San Diego cannabis event organizer The Farmer’s Cup, which is partnering with dispensary The Cake House Vista.
This will be the first event of its kind in the city since the Vista City Council decided in October to allow two cannabis events annually at Brengle Terrace Park, with events limited to two days. Months prior, the city adopted an ordinance allowing licensed cannabis events on private property.
Joshua Caruso, who co-founded The Farmer’s Cup (then San Diego Cannabis Farmers Markets) with partner Barry Herzberg in 2015, said this moment marks a historic milestone for the industry.
“We’ve been operating since about 2014 in the cannabis event space, and we’ve been pushing for these types of events to happen legally ever since then,” Caruso said. “We’ve been trying to normalize this for a long time.”
Caruso was one of several event organizers in California to obtain a cannabis event license in 2018 when they first started being issued by the state. Since then, his team has been searching for municipalities in San Diego County that would be interested in allowing these events, but no one would bite for many years.
When he reached out to Vista, which was emerging as a North County leader in cannabis business, Caruso was told by former City Council member and cannabis industry advocate Joe Green to hold out for a few years and circle back.
“I went out, did everything I had to do, and dealt with the state. I found out very quickly by calling every municipality up and down the coast, when I asked them if they were going to allow cannabis events, every single one said no,” Caruso said. “Everybody has basically told us no, until we reached out to Vista.”
After legalizing medical cannabis storefronts in 2018 under Measure Z and adult-use cannabis retailers in 2021, Vista finally became the first city to allow public cannabis events. Caruso and his team were then able to get the ball rolling.
Under the city’s regulations, only locally licensed cannabis businesses can sell products at these events. As The Farmer’s Cup began seeking a local dispensary to partner with, The Cake House in Vista quickly stepped forward.
Store manager Wade Healy is a born-and-raised Vistan who has fought for a legalized cannabis industry for years. At the Farmer’s Cup Awards Sesh, Healy said attendees can expect fun, safe cannabis consumption with their friends where they won’t be judged.
“We’ve been looking for safe access and safe consumption in the industry for decades,” Healy said. “I’m very excited to be in the first event in San Diego, especially with it being in my own city. This is the pinnacle of what I wanted to see in Vista.”
The main focus of the Farmer’s Cup Awards Sesh is the awards ceremony, where judges will honor select growers in the commercial and home-growing realms. The event will also feature cannabis sales from over 50 brands, live music, food, activities and, of course, smoking out.
Several requirements are in place for cannabis events at Brengle Terrace Park. Applicants must undergo licensing and permitting requirements and a pre-screening process.
Cannabis consumption cannot be visible from any public place outside the designated event area, and the sale or consumption of tobacco or alcohol is prohibited. Event organizers must also hire security personnel and use a driver’s license scanner to verify the age of attendees.
For cannabis events at Brengle Terrace, the city generally requires revenue sharing of 10% of gross revenues (excluding cannabis product sales), with some variability.
The event takes place as National City opens the county’s first cannabis consumption lounge, Sessions By The Bay. Vista leaders have expressed interest in placing a ballot measure before voters that would allow the operation of cannabis lounges locally.
Tickets for the Farmer’s Cup Awards Sesh are available online at farmerscupofficial.com. The Moonlight Amphitheatre is located at 1250 Vale Terrace in Vista.
