If there's one thing people love to do on April 20, it's enjoy a nice outdoor concert with their friends and loved ones. That said, a proposed Cypress Hill event in Vancouver on 4/20 is now at risk of cancellation due to a request from the park board.
This year's enormous 4/20 festivity will take place at Sunset Beach and includes a last-minute performance from Cypress Hill. On Monday (April 15), the park board's John Coupar requested staff to formally demand the concert be cancelled.
"[The show] is going to dramatically increase the size of the event. We've had considerable damage [from the event] in the past, so, I think, as a park commissioner, it's my duty to say, 'Hey, this is getting out of hand,'" Coupar said [via the CBC]. "We've been telling this [4/20] group that they're not welcome in the park for a number of years."
The park board has opposed 4/20's presence at Sunset Beach since 2017, refusing permits for the organizers and asking them to move the event elsewhere.
According to Mayor Kennedy Stewart, however, there's not much that can be done to stop the Cypress Hill concert from happening. He told On the Coast host Gloria Makarenko that police would not shut down the concert.
"We've seen what happens in other cities when you have large crowds... when you do move police in, and you think of riot police and tear gas," he said. "That's often how they're dealt with in other cities and I know some folks have kind of suggested that here in Vancouver. That's absolutely the wrong approach."
Stewart concluded that organizers will be responsible for all costs incurred from the event, and that the city is looking for a different location for next year's 4/20 fest.
The 2018 iteration of the 4/20 event attracted 40,000 people and 140 unlicensed vendors. According to a statement from the city, the event cost taxpayers around $235,000, with 4/20 organizers paying just $32,000 of those costs.
This year's enormous 4/20 festivity will take place at Sunset Beach and includes a last-minute performance from Cypress Hill. On Monday (April 15), the park board's John Coupar requested staff to formally demand the concert be cancelled.
"[The show] is going to dramatically increase the size of the event. We've had considerable damage [from the event] in the past, so, I think, as a park commissioner, it's my duty to say, 'Hey, this is getting out of hand,'" Coupar said [via the CBC]. "We've been telling this [4/20] group that they're not welcome in the park for a number of years."
The park board has opposed 4/20's presence at Sunset Beach since 2017, refusing permits for the organizers and asking them to move the event elsewhere.
According to Mayor Kennedy Stewart, however, there's not much that can be done to stop the Cypress Hill concert from happening. He told On the Coast host Gloria Makarenko that police would not shut down the concert.
"We've seen what happens in other cities when you have large crowds... when you do move police in, and you think of riot police and tear gas," he said. "That's often how they're dealt with in other cities and I know some folks have kind of suggested that here in Vancouver. That's absolutely the wrong approach."
Stewart concluded that organizers will be responsible for all costs incurred from the event, and that the city is looking for a different location for next year's 4/20 fest.
The 2018 iteration of the 4/20 event attracted 40,000 people and 140 unlicensed vendors. According to a statement from the city, the event cost taxpayers around $235,000, with 4/20 organizers paying just $32,000 of those costs.
