Vancouver Park Board preparing for ‘unpermitted’ cannabis events on 4-20

An inflatable shaped like a joint is tossed above the crowd during the annual 4-20 marijuana celebration in Vancouver on Saturday, April 20, 2019. The Vancouver Park Board says it's gearing up for "unpermitted" events on April 20 including on Sunset Beach, where thousands of people have gathered in past years to smoke cannabis to the chagrin of city officials and police. (Darryl Dyck / The Canadian Press)

VANCOUVER — The Vancouver Park Board says it’s gearing up for “unpermitted” events on April 20 including on Sunset Beach, where thousands of people gathered in recent years to smoke cannabis to the chagrin of city officials and police.

The board says in a statement that it’s aware of one “informal” gathering planned for the beach this year, but it’s also introducing parking restrictions around other spaces including Thornton Park and the Vancouver Art Gallery.

The statement says the city and the board are working with Vancouver police, the provincial government, public health officials and TransLink to “actively monitor the situation.”

It says the Sunset Beach parking lot will be closed this weekend and will reopen on Easter Monday, noting Park Rangers, police and city officials will be at the beach and Thornton Park on Sunday “to support public safety.”

Parks Board spokeswoman Elayne Sun says they learned of the event at the beach by an “anonymous flyer” that didn’t contain contact information for organizers.

Drug legalization activist Dana Larsen, who was involved in organizing past 4-20 gatherings, says he’s not aware of any large-scale events this year at the beach, but he’s been told that there is a gathering planned for the art gallery.

Larsen says before the COVID-19 pandemic, organizers would start planning many months in advance and meet with city officials to plan the unsanctioned event.

“But that was when it was a massive event that did require a lot of toilets and a lot of traffic adjustments and staging and safety rules and security,” Larsen said in an interview.

But, he doesn’t think that will happen this year.

“I expect that 4-20 gatherings this year will be smaller and informal,” he said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 17, 2025.