High turnout for S.F.’s 4/20 festival
Thousands of misty-eyed revelers rolled like a summer fog over San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park on Friday for the thrumming, mind-numbing all-day festival of marijuana known worldwide as 4/20.
The crowds of tie-dye, grunge and alternative lifestyle devotees came to the famous Hippie Hill from across California to pay tribute to the smokable herb, which, for the first time since the annual celebration began, is being legally sold for nonmedicinal purposes in the state.
“I feel it is my God-given right to use the tree of life,” Ezekial Galvan, 19, of San Jose declared as he toked on a tree-size joint, one of 100 he planned to smoke. “I’m going to pass out at the end of the day and have very nice dreams.”
The 4/20 celebration drew an estimated 15,000 people to
Robin Williams Meadow on the east end of Golden Gate Park. It quickly took on a dreamy quality, thanks to the clouds of smoke wafting overhead.
Weed parties like this have run into trouble in other cities because smoking or selling cannabis in public places is illegal under state law, but San Francisco spelled out rules, found sponsors and allocated money for the park smoke-fest. London Breed, president of the Board of Supervisors, said the city does not sanction such shenanigans, but officials had to turn a blind eye because the event would have occurred anyway and they are obligated to ensure public safety.
The astral mood started before the gates opened about 40 minutes after the scheduled 9 a.m. start. The throngs that had gathered at the police barricades began chanting, “We want to smoke pot in the park,” and a collective whoop rose up as they were allowed inside.
Portable toilets ringed the meadow and few police were visible as the partyers got to work on their avocation, displaying a particular devotion to the old-fashioned doobie.
One man holding an orange box full of immaculately rolled spleefs shouted, “Pot, pot, get your pot,” like a hot dog vendor at a ballgame, but most everyone already had the stuff. Still, vendors were everywhere selling tiny $5 gram baggies, cookies and gummies.
“It comes from the Earth,” was the sales pitch of Angel Carreno, 37, of San Jose, who was liberally dipping into the joints, edibles and bags of flower he was selling. “We’re not doing anything illegal here. It’s amazing!”
Bear Waite, a paragon of ’60s fashion with his long beard, tie-dye shirt and Chinese parasol hat, puffed on a giant inflatable joint as a sign of solidarity with the toking masses. He had already consumed his edibles.
“This is a revolution. It really is,” said Waite, 60, of Rio Linda (Sacramento County), whose wife, Michelle, was relaxing on a blanket in the middle of Hippie Hill. “Anytime people can get together without hurting each other is a good day. Sticks and stones may break your bones, but cannabis will never hurt you.”
As haze settled over the park, the lounging merrymakers were treated to recorded music playing from the stage, including “Purple Haze” by Jimi Hendrix.
At 4:20 p.m., a New Year’s Evestyle countdown began for the “bud drop,” a phantasmagoric depiction of a marijuana bud descending a la Times Square, but it seemed to leave many people dazed and confused. Still, they cheered as if it was the highlight of a day jam-packed with highs.
“What a mellow crowd,” marveled Paul Warshaw, CEO of Green Rush, which organized the event along with Sounds Bazaar and Haight Street merchants. “The worst that’s going to happen is someone is going to fall asleep.”
Although the event was free, many saw the celebration as a business opportunity. Besides baggies of bud, joints and edibles, people circulated throughout the day with jewelry, crystals, meditation books and even hula hoops.
One featured attraction was a food court called Munchie Land, where the ravenous hordes could buy a “doughnut sandwich” for $12.
It seemed everyone had an angle. Folks were hawking accessories, websites, hotels, job referrals and highend delivery services. At one booth, visitors could spin a wheel and win a jar of bubbles. Dozens of winners stood there blowing bubbles into the air, where it was keeping the marijuana smoke company.
Amid all the hubbub walked a man wearing a banana suit.
“Why not,” he said to someone who inquired about the relevance of the fruit on this particular holiday. “You need potassium, right?”
The hijinks came despite a crackdown by the city, which put up fencing, beefed up security and increased park maintenance in an effort to prevent the kind of reefer madness that had happened in previous celebrations.
No one younger than 18 was allowed inside and tents, canopies, tables, cooking equipment, generators, amplified sound, glass, carts, wagons, drones, barbecues, stoves and weapons were prohibited.
“The hippie in me doesn’t like” all the new regulations, said Waite, a reggae fan who had hoped to bring his own music so he wouldn’t have to listen to a DJ playing hip-hop. “But I understand why they’re doing it. Just because I don’t like it doesn’t mean it’s not right.”
Ultimately, the vibe remained positive throughout, including the end when people began picking up trash as they filed out.
“It’s a free event for the people — seems like a small thing to do,” said Elizabeth Buzkirk of San Francisco, who held garbage in one hand and green-frosted marijuana sugar cookies in the other.
“You’re doing a good job,” she said to a fellow trash picker-upper. “Have a ganja cookie.”