Creating one of the biggest hash celebrations on the West Coast is no easy task. Thankfully, this year, the team at Puffco had the support of over 8,500 attendees for the 4th annual Puffcon event in Los Angeles.
The grounds this year stretched into every corner of the space with immersive lounges and live art exhibits so expansive that many of us explored every part of it. What started as a sort of thank-you to the community that supports them has steadily evolved into its own brand-centric celebration, creating a one-day amusement park of sorts. The row of vendors also came strong again with threads from Pyroscopic and EDISTSEW, or you could get something printed on-site from brands like Sour Wavez, Your Highness and Talking Terps. You could even play carnival games to win an inflatable Peak Pro.
Walking around, you could find hash-centric versions of travel centers, dinosaur parks and carnivals, each done at full volume.
The parking lot was moved off-site to allow for a much larger stage and concession area, plus make room for the Ferris wheel and Gravitron. Much of this next-level style of activation we’ve seen at events this year points to a growing reality: the industry has shown that we’re responsible enough to rent the cool event toys for large-scale stuff like this, and we definitely have the crowds for it.
This year, the line for Puffcon stretched three-quarters of the way around the entire Center Studios property. Photographer Jojosnaps told us it took her seven minutes to film from the front to back of the line right before opening. Some people told us they waited three or more hours to get in this year, an issue Puffcon said they hope to streamline for next year’s event.
As with any event in its first five years, there’s still a lot of room for growth and growing pains with Puffcon. No doubt, this year has shown the potential to go even bigger and more immersive for 2025. In a short time, Puffco has increased this crowd to almost three times the size of that first year and has shown that people are willing to pay for a ticket and wait for hours to come and enjoy the fun.
