SALEM, Va. – After the 420 Festival was unexpectedly cancelled for this weekend, event sponsors and the venue came together to give fans something to come to.
The third annual 420 Festival was supposed to take place Thursday to Saturday at Garrett Farms in Salem.
Ticket holders were geared up for vendors and bands, until event organizer Winston Marsden tells us he had to cancel the event due to a lack of ticket sales, and his financial backers bowing out.
Marsden said this was the last thing he wanted to do, and he felt pressured to cancel.
“I learned to respect the plant. Not to get high, but it was more about educating and breaking the stereotypes, so I created the festival,” Marsden said.
Ian Hill is the owner of Garrett Farms, the venue for the festival.
He said he worked with vendors and bands to make sure people still had some sort of event to come to — free of charge.
Saturday, on 4/20, they’ll host their own version of a 420 Festival.
“This is the festival that the fans saved. All of the bands are coming out for free, all of the vendors are coming here for free. They have a huge inventory built up for the festival, so they’re trying to get rid of that,” Hill said.
The gates open at 11 a.m., with music starting around 2 p.m.
The original organizers of the festival tell us they’re already getting refunds out to bands and vendors, and are working on getting refunds to the nearly 200 ticketholders as soon as possible.