Every spring, stoners from far and wide gather in Denver to celebrate 420, a holiday that’s typically more than a mile high.
Because we know there are different tokes for different folks, we’ve rounded up the best events and specials we could find on the Front Range. Whether you’re craving tunes, belly laughs or a margarita in a bong, we have you covered.
Music and comedy shows
As Denver’s biggest public 420 celebration, Mile High 420 Festival in Civic Center park, is an easy target for criticism. And certainly, the crowds, safety concerns and occasional controversies — such as the presence of under-21 people last year — invite serious attention. But at its heart, the free event a bunch of people smoking weed in public for the purpose of communing. And, as it turns out, listening to live hip hop from Rick Ross, Fivio Foreign, Kaash Page, Waka Flocka Flame, and The Alchemist. Hosted by Tommy Chong, with vendors, food and drink.
Mile High 420 Festival runs 1-10 p.m. Thursday, April 20 (101 14th Ave. in downtown Denver). 21-and-up. Free tickets at milehigh420fest.com.
Your Mom’s House — clearly one of the city’s best-named venues — will host the stacked Wake ‘n Bake Sessions: Vol. 420 on Thursday, with hip hop performances from Loktavious, Aye Dee, IMB Kash Royal, DrDBKush, Wes Dawg, OZV, MBK Jayy, and Dirty Dan.
2-6 p.m., tickets $10 via events.yourmomshousedenver.com (608 E. 13th Ave.).
The 420 on the Rocks concert actually takes place after April 20 — in this case, on Saturday, April 22 — but with sets from Wiz Khalifa, Joey Bada$$, Action Bronson, Berner, Marlon Craft, Chevy Woods and Little Strange, it’s sure to be another stoney celebration of some of hip hop’s finest. Note: Because it’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre, it’s an all-ages show.
6:45 p.m. on April 20. Sold out, but resale and late-ticket releases available (prices and fees vary); check axs.com for updates (18300 Alameda Parkway, Morrison).
Reggae royalty The Marley Brothers, with Ziggy Marley, Stephen Marley, Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley, Ky-Mani Marley and Julian Marley, return with their 420 Soul Shakedown, which includes classic Bob Marley tunes as Marley Brothers originals. Guests include Sean Paul and Protoje (Wednesday, April 19) and Steel Pulse, a Lee “Scratch” Perry Tribute feat. Mykal Rose and Subatomic Sound System (April 20) at the mighty Red Rocks Amphitheatre.
Shows start at 6:30 both nights. Tickets: $79.50-$89.50 via axs.com (18300 Alameda Parkway, Morrison).
While Chris Webby’s 420 show at Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom is already sold out, the venue’s connected room, The Other Side, is hosting an April 20 show from Asian-American pop band and YouTube sensations North Star Boys, who we can guarantee are not the usual 420 fare. (Note: down the block is the Roxy Theatre’s all-ages 420 Reef SZN show with Chayne Clouds, 7 p.m. on April 20; $29 via tickets.holdmyticket.com)
The Other Side concert: 7:30 p.m. 21-and-up. Tickets: $20-$100, cervantesmasterpiece.com (2635 Welton St., Denver).
Looking for laughs? Denver legend John Novosad (formerly Hippie Man) is heading up Black Buzzard at Oskar Blues’s 420 sets on April 20, as part of the ongoing Lodo Comedy Show. This week’s comics include Elliot Broder, Louis Jesse Ricardo Martinez, Kira MacGalen, Jake Cambron, Nic Dean and host Mark Masters of the Vail Comedy Festival.
7 p.m. doors. Tickets: $8-$40 via evenbrite.com (1624 Market St., Denver).
RELATED: PHOTOS: Inside Colorado’s first cannabis “bar,” JAD’s Mile High Smoke in Denver
Potty Mouths: A THC Comedy Experience takes over JAD’s Mile High Smoke on Friday, April 21, with comics C.J. and Emil “in this pot-infused laugh fest,” organizers wrote. It’s also every first and third Friday of the month.
7:30-9:30 p.m. 21-and-up. Tickets: $15 via eventbrite.com (7667 Washington St., Denver).
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema locations in the metro area are continuing with their Dank April themed screenings, including this week with stoner-classic “Dazed and Confused,” but also hypercolor horror “Mandy” and Nas and DMX’s gangster film “Belly.”
Screenings various days at 4:20 p.m. Tickets: $14 each via drafthouse.com/denver (Sloan’s Lake, Littleton, and Westminster locations).
Hard-working Denver comic and podcaster Matt Cobos will host comics from a variety of stand-up backgrounds at Enigma Bazaar on April 20 as part of The Savage 420 Comedy Show. “Comedians who love cannabis will be dishing out laughs on the big day,” organizers wrote.
7 and 9 p.m. shows. 21-and-up. dining and full-service bar available. Tickets: $12 via savageent5280.com (4923 W. 38th Ave., Denver).
The Hot Box 420 Drag Show is one of a growing number of drag events themed around cannabis, with appropriately weed-friendly performers CannaBliss Thorns, Brenda Telladaga, Marionette Clown Toy and Wizic, hosted by Kat Danger at DV8 Distillery.
8-10 p.m. Friday, April 21. Tickets: $10 via eventbrite.com (2480 49th St., Boulder).
Aurora’s deeply underappreciated Stampede venue, which often hosts sold-out Spanish-language concerts, is hosting the Baked’N Denver extravaganza on Saturday, April 22, with live comedy and music (the schedule for which is not yet posted), food and drink, and more.
Starts at 11 a.m. April 22. Tickets: $25 via stampedeclub.net (2430 S. Havana St., Aurora).
RELATED: Denver’s best stoner dining, according to the pros on “Stoned Appetit”
Food and drink specials
Los Chingones Mexican restaurant is rolling out a special cocktail to appease cannabis enthusiasts. The Medical Margarita is a tropical tequila drink made with passion fruit, coconut, chile and CBD-infused sparkling lemonade that comes served in a glass bong on dry ice, so it looks like it’s smoking. The drink costs $12 and is available exclusively on April 20-21.
Order a Medical Margarita at Los Chingones locations in RiNo Denver (2463 Larimer St.), Denver Tech Center (4959 S. Newport St.) and Fort Collins (3541 E. Harmony Rd., #110).
To celebrate 420, Renegade Brewing Co. set out on a mission to “make a beer the most like weed that we possibly could,” said head brewer Jack Meyer. The brewery partnered with Loud Labs in Wheat Ridge to procure hemp terpenes, then added them to an IPA deemed Denver’s Dankest — and the beer delivers on its name. Meyer used just 3 ounces of liquid terpenes, which do not contain THC, for 270 gallons of beer to give it an unmistakable cannabis aroma.
Denver’s Dankest (6.1% ABV) is available on draft at Renegade Brewing Co. (925 W 9th Ave., Denver).
Terps appear to be the hot flavor this 420. Fiction Beer Co. is also planning to debut three different recipes showcasing the similarities between cannabis and hops. They include a Mexican lager with Lemon Haze terpenes, a New England-style IPA with Pineapple Express terpenes and a blackberry slushie beer with Blackberry Kush terps. Pair your drink with a marijuana-themed round of trivia.
The party starts at 2 p.m. on April 20 at Fiction Beer Co. (7101 E Colfax Ave, Denver).
TRVE Brewing will release Nazareth, a “dank-as-hell” double IPA that returns to its lineup every year about this time. The brewery is also selling a limited amount of blacklight posters inspired by the label artwork to go with it. The beer will be available starting at 11 a.m. when the brewery opens and for those who are hungry, Music City Chicken will have a special crunch wrap on this day only.
Nazareth (8% ABV) will be available on draft and in 16-ounce cans exclusively at TRVE Brewing’s taproom (227 Broadway, #101, Denver).
To be blunt, Glo Noodle House is playing with its food and offering a deal on eggrolls they crafted specifically to look like big, fried joints. The eggrolls are discounted this week at four for $20. You don’t even need to pose like you’re smoking them to get the deal, but you might want to for the ‘gram.
Grab the blunt eggroll deal through April 22 at Glo Noodle House (4450 W 38th Ave #130, Denver.)
Dispensary deals abound on 420, but one, in particular, is poised to help the hungry masses. The Green Solution and Medicine Man locations across the Front Range will host food trucks in their parking lots from noon to 1 p.m. and customers who shop there are eligible for a free bite with their purchase, while supplies last.
Deal available at The Green Solution locations in Edgewater (6020 W. 20th Ave.), Northglenn (470 Malley Dr.), south Aurora (3179 South Peoria Ct.), and Fort Collins (810 North College Ave.), as well as Medicine Man locations in Thronton (130 W. 84th Ave.), Longmont (500 E. Rogers Rd.) and Aurora (1901 S. Havana St.).
