Every year, people worldwide celebrate 4/20 (20th April) – a day where people get together to show their appreciation for cannabis and/or rally to legalize it. The usual place for these gatherings is usually a park of some sort (most famously Golden Gate Park in California), but as the day became more organized and used as a platform to push legal change, town halls and the like have become rallying points as well.
This year, however, most of the world is on lockdown and has been warned to stay away from parks. Concerts and other events have been cancelled, and social distancing is in many instances legally enforced. #StayAtHome and #FlattenTheCurve has seen events postponed and cancelled. This is certainly not business as usual, and people will need to be creative in terms of how they will go about celebrating this year’s 4/20. Here are some things we will see happening this year.
1. Virtual Parties
This is guaranteed, as people are already using Skype, Houseparty, Zoom, Facetime and many other video conferencing platforms to host online get-togethers. There will no doubt be plenty of 4/20-themed virtual parties as well. Dispensaries and consumption lounges will likely host their own events, whilst others are more likely to have more informal affairs.
2. Fundraisers
Whilst many people will be celebrating 4/20, it will also come as no surprise that many in the cannabis community will also be focusing much of their attention on the pandemic and helping out those who have been impacted most severely by it. Events like Chronic Relief and 420 For a Cause are two such examples, and there will be many others. Perhaps one of the most intriguing fundraising events is the world record attempt for “Most People Consuming Cannabis on Video Chat”, where donations go to the Last Prisoner Project.
3. Concerts, DJ Sets etc.
Whether it’s Questlove, Diplo or Nightmares on Wax whose song selections you’ll be tuning into, there will be all sorts of DJ sets from all sorts of genres playing some choice cuts this 4/20. The Grateful Dead may well put out something on their Shakedown Stream, and there will be bigger live music sessions like Weedmaps’ “Higher Together: Sessions from Home”.
4. Online Festivals
The most well-known event is the Highstream 420 Festival, which is being held by the Emerald Cup and the National Cannabis Festival. B-Real, Tommy Chong, David Gans and many others will be joining the Great American Sesh-In. There are also some non-4/20 affiliated events like Erykah Badu’s online quarantine special concert and the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) One World: Together at Home that are suspiciously close to 4/20 (April 19 and 18 respectively). Yes, this means you can essentially get a three-day festival all in your own living room or bedroom!
5. Dispensary Parties, including Workshops, Competitions & Giveaways
Plenty of dispensaries will be hosting their own events and, like every year, will more than likely have competitions and giveaways to get people joining in. As for Workshops, expect cookery, art, music and exercise classes to be particularly popular.
6. Cookery Classes
Likely to be so popular that it’s worth mentioning twice. Plus, it won’t just be dispensaries hosting cannabis cooking classes, but likely home/amateur and even professional chefs looking to help others bake and get baked with high-quality, tasty edibles this 4/20.
7. TV Parties
For many, the ideal way to spend 4/20 is with a few friends, cooking up plenty of medicated and non-medicated snacks and dishes, and watching a film or three. This can easily still happen. Just agree to meet on an online video conferencing platform of your choice, pick a film to watch, sit down and watch together! If you’re cooking up a storm, you can roll up the cookery and the TV party into one!
8. Online Jams
There will be plenty of musicians yearning to get into a room and play together. Unfortunately, this is not possible at the moment, so an online jam will be a perfect stopgap solution. Just ensure you have the right equipment to hear each other play!
9. Online Performances
The world needs to laugh, and comedians will be looking for ways to entertain us (and probably themselves as well) during the lockdown. Standup comedy will instead be sit down comedy, and hecklers become trolls that can easily be muted and ignored. And it won’t just be comedians trying to keep a smile on our faces, but stage performers of all sorts, from stage actors to burlesque performers.
10. Gaming
Already an online endeavour for many types of games, online gaming has taken on a new dimension during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many more people are getting into gaming, and with many companies cutting prices for their games, it is not a leap in logic to say that there will be plenty of people turning to their consoles or PCs for entertainment. The social aspects of gaming, alongside the fact that it is already a well-established online activity with a huge array of titles to choose from, means it is an activity that will probably prove very popular during 4/20.
There’s no reason to remain unoccupied and get bored this 4/20 when sheltering-in-place. Hopefully, one of the above has given you some ideas as to what sorts of activities you can organize. In the meantime, if you think you would qualify for a medical marijuana card, you can do so online with Leafwell in states where it is legal & possible to do so. Just click on the picture below to get started …
