[[{“value”:”
Denver’s 4/20 festival isn’t free anymore, but this history is
The date 4/20 written out in the form of cannabis leaves. Photo courtesy of Adobe Stock.
For decades, Denver has hosted one of the largest annual events to celebrate cannabis culture, The Mile High 420 Festival. But the once free event is changing its ways this year, requiring the purchase of a ticket to enter.
The celebration held in Civic Center Park has previously described itself as the “World’s Largest Free 420 Celebration.” However, as explained by an article from Westword by Thomas Mitchell, “General admission for a ticket to the Mile High 420 Festival is $20 (plus fees) until April 10, when base prices go up to $25.”
According to Mitchell, the festival began in the early ‘90s as a political event. But over the years, it has morphed into a major celebration where live music is provided and food from various vendors is offered.
This year – and every year – the festival is held on or near April 20, aka, 4/20. But what does the phrase “420” mean anyway?
According to an article from AP News by Gene Johnson, the exact origins of 420 are difficult to track. “Some claimed it referred to a police code for marijuana possession or that it derived from Bob Dylan’s ‘Rainy Day Women No. 12 & 35,’ with its refrain of ‘Everybody must get stoned’ — 420 being the product of 12 times 35.”
However, the most prevailing explanation traces back to the 1970s with a group of friends at San Rafael High School in California. The friends, who referred to themselves as “the Waldos,” would meet up at 4:20 – after school when football practice ended – to smoke a joint.
They eventually coined the term “420” in their group and even “saved postmarked letters and other artifacts from the 1970s referencing” the phrase. The artifacts are cited as some of the earliest recorded uses of the term.
Usage of the phrase spread thanks to the band, Grateful Dead. A brother of one of the Waldos was a good friend of bassist Phil Lesh, and through spending time with the band’s circle, the slang became used more and more.
In the early 1990s, “Steve Bloom, a reporter for the cannabis magazine High Times, was at a Grateful Dead show when he was handed a flyer urging people to ‘meet at 4:20 on 4/20 for 420-ing in Marin County at the Bolinas Ridge sunset spot on Mt. Tamalpais.’” High Times published the flyer, and 4/20 celebrations have since become a staple to celebrating marijuana culture.
Post Views: 10
“}]] Denver’s 4/20 festival isn’t free anymore, but this history is For decades, Denver has hosted one of the largest annual events to celebrate cannabis culture, The Mile High 420 Festival. But the once free event is changing its ways this year, requiring the purchase of a ticket to enter. The celebration held in Civic Center Park has previously described itself as the “World’s Largest Free 420 Celebration.” However, as explained by an article from Westword… Read More
