ANDERSONVILLE — Andersonville’s dispensary has decided it’s high time to celebrate legal pot sales in the city.
Dispensary 33’s Waldos Forever Fest will take place 11 a.m.-8 p.m April 23 outside the dispensary’s headquarters, 5001 N. Clark St. The festival is free and open to anyone 21 and older.
It will be the first Waldos Forever Fest to be held since weed sales were legalized in 2020 — although consuming pot is not allowed at the fest.
The Andersonville-based dispensary debuted its Waldos Forever Fest in 2018 as a way to mark the stoner holiday known as 4/20, or April 20. A second edition of the festival in 2019 saw 6,000 people come to Clark Street for the event.
Dispensary 33 had major plans to celebrate the state’s new pot laws in April 2020 for what would have been the third Waldos Forever Fest. But that year’s festival was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The street festival was also not held in 2021, with Dispensary 33 instead releasing a retro-inspired, Chicago-themed video game to mark 4/20.
But with Chicago dropping coronavirus restrictions this year, the festival is back on, organizers said.
Junglepussy and Sudan Archives will headline the music stage. There also will be drag performances from Bambi Banks-Couleé, Mom Jeans and Lucy Stoole, along with “cannabis-forward” vendors and local food options, organizers said.
Ironically, smoking weed is prohibited at the fest as it is against city rules to smoke in public places.
“We’re here to promote the benefits of cannabis, however, consumption is not allowed at the fest,” the Waldos Forever Fest website reads.
The name “Waldos Forever Fest” is also a reference to the pot holiday known as 4/20.
Five friends in California — who call themselves the Waldos — would meet at 4:20 p.m. after school to smoke weed and hang out. The term “4/20” became their code word for pot.
For more information on Waldos Forever Fest, click here.
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