Product Earth Forced to Cancel 2nd Day of UK Show

The annual UK event, which is now in its 9th year, was held in London’s Drumsheds venue this year instead of its regular home at NAEC Stoneleigh, which has proved popular with attendees over the years. The move to the London venue was met with some disappointment from regular attendees who would rather have kept the event out of central London and maintained the festival-like vibe at Stoneleigh.

Now it seems, according to Product Earth organisers, that the event was shockingly shut down for the second day by the conference centre management due to fears that their licence would be jeopardised.

Product Earth has communicated that they are working together with Eventbrite to ensure refunds are given to attendees, however, it remains unclear whether exhibitors, including major brands such as Curaleaf and Cookies, along with a large number of independent businesses, will also receive compensation.

Attendees were requested to abstain from smoking inside, and a medical cannabis prescription was needed for attendees to bring medical cannabis onto the premises.

However, multiple attendees documented the open sale of cannabis on-site, as well as the open use of cannabis indoors by attendees and exhibitors.

Product Earth 2024 was scheduled to take place at Drumsheds in North London, a venue with a capacity of 15,000 attendees, on Saturday September 7th and Sunday 8th September.

It is understood that the venue, run and operated by Nine Point Eight and owned by Broadwick Group, the same company behind venues such as Printworks London and Depot Mayfield in Manchester, asked that Product Earth provide their security for the event.

The Saturday of the event would appear to have gone well with a large crowd size reported alongside reports of a vibrant, friendly atmosphere.

However, throughout the day, widespread cannabis consumption was apparent inside the exhibition centre by both attendees and exhibitors.

Multiple reports have suggested that the onsite security did not attempt to stop this behaviour as it continued throughout the day. The open sale of cannabis has also been reported to have been taking place, although these claims are unconfirmed.

Following ‘hours of discussions’ with Drumsheds staff after the close of the show on Saturday, Product Earth sadly informed exhibitors that the event would now not be taking place the following day.

“Unfortunately on Saturday, a minority of people decided that they would smoke inside the building. UK law dictates that smoking is not permitted in any enclosed workplace or public building. This triggered pre-fire alarms, which would have set off sprinklers, putting people's safety at risk. We worked into the early hours of the morning with the venue to come to a resolution, offering multiple solutions, however, the venue made the decision that the show could not continue on Sunday due to the risk to their license. This decision was entirely out of our hands. We are heartbroken that this has been the outcome and continue to work tirelessly to resolve this unfortunate situation that has affected so many of you.” -Product Earth Social Media Statement

With thousands of people having purchased tickets for the entire weekend or just Sunday's event, Product Earth has assured that ticket prices will be reimbursed.

“Our first line of action is to ensure those who did not get to attend on Sunday are refunded their tickets. We will also be addressing those with weekend tickets and VIP tickets who were not able to get the full value of their tickets as well. We are speaking with Eventbrite on how best to get this done as quickly as possible. We appreciate your patience as we work through this unfortunate process.”

More From Soft Secrets:

Top Canna Events in Europe 2024

Hyde Park 420 Event, Peaceful Again!

The Best Canna Shows In Europe 2023