Waka Flocka Flame, The Alchemist, Fivio Foreign and Kaash Paige round out the headlining musical acts, while Tommy Chong will be the official host of the 4/20 fest, set for Thursday, April 20. More acts will be announced soon, the event website notes.
As in previous years, the 4/20 fest will be free, but this marks the first year that there will be an age limit: After receiving requests from parents and youth prevention groups last year, the organizers have ruled that no one under 21 will be allowed in.
For nearly three decades now, a marijuana celebration has taken place at Civic Center on April 20 (or on the weekend a few days before or after that date) to mark 4/20, an unofficial cannabis holiday now observed around the world. The event transitioned to a free concert and vendor space in the late 2000s, with a handful of planners and companies organizing the festival over the years — but unsanctioned marijuana use has always been a hallmark.
Local and state laws ban public events from allowing marijuana use, and Civic Center Park is city-owned property, which makes it off limits for any official form of pot hospitality licenses. Despite these laws to the contrary, though, city and law enforcement officials have mostly turned a blind eye to attendees smoking weed within the festival grounds on 4/20.
Euflora, a Colorado dispensary chain, was the most recent permit holder for the Mile High 420 Festival. Unsanctioned pot consumption was a very open part of the celebration under Euflora in 2022, and the Denver Police Department issued zero public-consumption citations at Civic Center Park on 4/20 last year.
This year, though, wording on the event's website isn't clear on this cloudy Civic Center tradition.
Euflora was recently purchased by Michigan-based dispensary chain JARS Cannabis, and the 4/20 event permit was included in the deal. On the 2023 fest's website, JARS offers a pot policy similar to that espoused by Euflora in recent years, restating the state law on public marijuana use. However, the website also specifically prohibits not only bags (which could be a security concern), but "marijuana" itself from coming inside the grounds.
Posting policies that officially ban marijuana at concerts and festivals is a safe way for organizers and promoters to protect themselves from legal action, which could very well be the case here. JARS didn't explicitly address the issue of marijuana use at the 4/20 event in a November interview with Westword or in recent rounds of social media posts, but the emojis in the latest post from the Mile High 420 Festival's Instagram page could be a cryptic message:
Rick Ross, Fivio Foreign, Waka Flocka Flame, Kaash Paige, and The Alchemist will be headlining the main stage in Civic Center Park for the 2023 Mile High 420 Festival. In addition, Tommy Chong will be the official host and will be holding a meet greet in the VIP lounge!According to Adam Schmidt, co-owner of Headline, the event production company putting together the Mile High 420 Festival, the event will have "the exact same policies as last year," with the exception of the new age restriction.
We are so excited to see them on the big stage, and even more excited to all of you guys in the crowd!🍃💨
Party on!
This story has been updated to include information from Adam Schmidt.
