4/20 continues online as physical distancing stops smokers, vendors from gathering
Posted April 20, 2020 9:00 pm.
Last Updated April 20, 2020 9:02 pm.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — Normally 4/20 brings thousands of people out selling and smoking marijuana through downtown Vancouver, but this year’s party has moved online.
Physical distancing measures to flatten the curve of COVID-19 have prevented hundreds of thousands of pot smokers from rolling their way downtown.
On Monday a joint effort was made between cannabis advocates across Canada, celebrating 4:20 p.m. in each province beginning in Newfoundland and ending in B.C.
“4/20 is about gathering in person, but 4/20 is also about a spirit that’s in all of our hearts, and we’re going to do our best to maintain that spirit on the internet, local 4/20 organizer Dana Larson says. “People can all celebrate together, and we’re not going to let this Grinch virus ruin our cannabis Christmas for us.”
Virtual version of #420Vancouver is getting underway shortly. @DanaLarsen says it would be nice to go back to normal and argue with the city about the grass at Sunset Beach rather than deal with COVID-19. Says the pandemic puts things into perspective.@NEWS1130 @CityNewsVAN pic.twitter.com/sXbmbyOHZB
— Travis Prasad (@TravisPrasad) April 20, 2020
While in previous years, festival organizers have had pushback with city officials when organizing the event, this year, their only setbacks were minor technical minor issues.
“It would be nice to go back to normal and be arguing just about the grass at Sunset Beach and not about the more serious issues that we’re all concerned with right now. And really, to me, it puts things in perspective a little bit,” Larson adds.
Last month the annual Sunset Beach celebration was officially cancelled, which has been a profitable day for many unlicensed vendors in the past.
“There’s definitely people who are very upset that it’s been cancelled, although we all understand why that has to be,” Larson says.
While Sunset Beach is calm and quiet this year, it seems days of butting heads with the city are not over yet.
“We will definitely be back next year in Vancouver,” Larson says.
