It’s that time of the year again! April is upon us and this year Four Twenty lands on Easter Sunday. You might be wondering where the party’s at so we have compiled a list to help you find your people on cannabis Christmas.
What is 420?
Four twenty is the international day of cannabis. It’s origins date back to the 1960’s when a group of teenagers in Marin County, California used to meet up after extracurricular classes to puff one down. One day they discovered one of their brothers had a map that led you to a secret cannabis field, so they met at the usual spot at 20 past 4 to go in search of the loot…one of them went on to become a roadie for The Grateful Dead, a psychedelic rock band from San Francisco just south of Marin. He kept true to the tradition of his school friends and would always light up at 16:20. After a while, this became the routine for the whole crew and the band. The Dead spread the culture like wildfire through their cult like following of hippies who followed them all around America, puff puff passing the ritual to every state they played. Later on in the mid 1990’s a Canadian activist Marc Emery who ran Cannabis Culture Magazine used the money he made from seed sales to fund 420 events all over the US, Canada and parts of Europe. The rest, as they say, is history.
Where can I celebrate 420 in 2025?
Traditionally, the UKCSC has been at Hyde Park having been an organiser and promoter of it when numbers pulled a couple of thousand, now with 20-30,000 people puffing in the park it feels like mission accomplished so we have decided to spend each 420 helping a new local event get started. This year, that will be Brighton.
Brighton 420, East Brighton Park
The south coast beach city of Brighton and Hove has a longstanding reputation for cannabis activism and this year marks the very first Brighton 420. If you’re in the South East and want a good community feel head along and bring everything you’ll need for a few hours in the park. You will know the spot if you attended Brighton Cannabis Club’s Jerk & Fire events on August Bank Holiday some years ago. There isn’t a great deal of parking but it’s on the bus route and just a short walk out of town. With Green Pride unable to return, this could be the start of something big and wonderful – join them in the first year!
You can follow the updates at @Brighton420official on Instagram.
When: 2 pm – 6 pm
Where: East Brighton Park, BN2 5TS
Bristol 420, Castle Park
In recent years, Bristol’s 420 gathering has become an absolute party, with multiple sound systems across the park bringing thousands of people together – which is no surprise because, well…it’s Bristol and that’s what they do! In the last general election Bristol Central constituency voted in Green party leader and MP Carla Denyer who has shown rigid support for legalisation. The Green’s drug policy advocates for community based cannabis social clubs.
Meet up with @BristolCannabisClub and find out how to get more involved with activism. Follow them on Instagram to find out where they will be at Castle Park this year.
When: 12 pm onwards
Where: Castle Park, Bristol
Durham 420, Old Elvet
Those in the North East can attend Durham’s 420 protest in Old Elvet. Durham was home to Ron Hogg the late Police Crime Commissioner who gave his blessing for a cannabis social club in Durham back in 2017 – so it’s a little surprising there still isn’t a membership club with a venue in town! Not many police forces give that kind of blessing. If you’re keen on making a club happen in Durham, do get in touch! Hopefully the day is more of a celebration than a protest because…they already have permission to do what they say they are protesting for!
When: 12:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Where: Hemp Gardens, Durham Regatta, Elvet Waterside
Teesside 420, Stockton – Club Exhale
Teesside Cannabis Club – are hosting their annual members 420 event and you can attend too! Get in touch with them to find out the requirements. Exhale has been open since 2016 providing a safe space to adults that consume cannabis. The harm reduction initiative has gained national attention and serves as an example of the safety and benefit of cannabis social clubs in British towns.
When: 3:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Where: Exhale Harm Reduction Centre, Stockton on Tees
Glasgow 420, Glasgow Green
One of the longer running four twenty events is making a loud return this year. Glasgow Cannabis Club aka A Space In Time aka CBD Tardis has been guiding Scotland’s cannabis activism days for 13 years. Public talks and local music acts will grace the air waves with positive vibrations and provide an opportunity for cannabis consumers in Scotland to meet up and make progress.
When: 12:00 pm – 07:00 pm
Where: Greendyke St, Glasgow, G1 5DB
Leeds 420, Hyde Park – Woodhouse Moor
The Leeds four twenty gathering has been an important day for the cannabis community. This traditional gathering has had its battles and without a bit of last minute activism this event might have become assigned to the history books. In 2018 the council tried to prevent the 420 event from happening. We did not take that lightly and members of the club at the time stepped up to the responsibility to go to the court hearing and defend the rights of local people to congregate and celebrate – and we won! You can read about it here in Weed World. So, with that in mind, knowing your history, get out there and exercise your right to freedom!
When: 12:00 pm – 07:00 pm
Where: Woodhouse Moor, Hyde Park
London, Hyde Park
This event is a behemoth and with 420 being on a Sunday we expect the park to be the most packed it has ever been. Recent years have seen 20-30k turn up and as a result there is no way for the community to have a stage, sound system or any real outreach platform. It’s a bit like “job done” in some regards. Back in 2012 we had to negotiate with police to allow this to happen. We would speak to the Royal Parks, have interviews in the newspaper running up to it and there would be about 2,000-6,000 people depending on what day 420 fell that year. Police would kettle the crowd with shields and battens, ready for some kind of war…with stoners. It was embarrassing for them when we put in a Freedom of Information request, which revealed they had spent in excess of £23k just that day. Needless to say, next year, they calmed down. Attendance blew up in 2017 when numbers grew exponentially. By 2019 the event just became a beast of its own.
When: 11 am – 5 pm
Where: Hyde Park, London, W2 2UH
Peterborough 420, River Nene
An unofficial gathering will be taking place on the River Nene in Peterborough this fourtwenty. This will be quite a small gathering but you will be sure to meet some wonderful people from the Tiny Cannabis Club, an online community club. Checkout What Three Words:Hats.Planet.Feed to help you locate the group!
When: 2:00 pm – 05:00 pm
Where: Ferry Meadows
Plymouth 420, Love’s Field
Another new event for this year’s four twenty celebrations is free to attend in Love’s Field, Central Park. We encourage anyone in the area that wants to connect with the community to get along and see what it’s all about. There are activist groups and clubs in Plymouth trying to change the status quo – let them know you care!
When: 10:30 am – 05:00 pm
Where: Love’s Field, Central Park
Manchester 420, Platt Fields & Hulme Park
Manchester do things differently as the saying goes, that’s why they are hosting two 420 events to choose from! You could probably even hit them both up and catch both vibes if you have FOMO. Mannijuana have been hosting 420 events since 2012 and always put on a fantastic gathering, bringing together some sick DJs and artists to entertain the peeps.
When: 12:00 pm – 07:00 pm
Where: Platt Fields
If you go to an event…
If you’ve read this blog, and you decide to go to a 420 event, we would LOVE you to do some reporting for us. Throw together a few paragraphs about the day, what you saw and how people were enjoying themselves. Take some pictures or videos and send them to us info@ukcsc.co.uk and we will publish them in a blog and on social media.
Want to get more involved?
If you have a drive for change and want to make something happen in the place you live, sign up and become a supporter member of the UKCSC, get more involved with the community and get guidance to make change a reality.
