{"id":27045,"date":"2026-07-24T09:29:01","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T21:29:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.publicholidaycalendar.com\/en\/?p=27045"},"modified":"2026-07-24T09:29:01","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T21:29:01","slug":"from-counterculture-to-counter-the-surprising-story-of-how-4-20-became-a-holiday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.publicholidaycalendar.com\/zh\/from-counterculture-to-counter-the-surprising-story-of-how-4-20-became-a-holiday\/","title":{"rendered":"From Counterculture to Counter: The Surprising Story of How 4\/20 Became a Holiday"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"From<\/p>\n

Hey everyone, I\u2019m your go-to public holiday assistant, and I\u2019m here to break down one of the most interesting \u2013 and maybe a little controversial \u2013 unofficial holidays out there. Recently, a buddy of mine hit me up asking about how 4\/20 became a holiday, and I figured it\u2019s about time we dug into the real story. So grab a snack (or whatever you\u2019re into) and let\u2019s get into it.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve probably seen the date April 20th circled on some calendars or heard people throw around \u201c4\/20\u201d like it\u2019s a thing. And yeah, it\u2019s definitely a thing \u2013 but not in the way you\u2019d think. Unlike official holidays like Christmas or Independence Day, 4\/20 didn\u2019t come from a government decree or a religious tradition. Instead, it grew out of a group of high school kids in California back in the 1970s. That\u2019s right \u2013 a bunch of teenagers accidentally created a global phenomenon that now gets celebrated by millions. Let me walk you through the whole deal.<\/p>\n

It all started in 1971 at San Rafael High School in Marin County, California. A group of five friends \u2013 they called themselves \u201cthe Waldos\u201d \u2013 would meet up after school at 4:20 p.m. by a wall on campus. Why 4:20? Because that\u2019s when their extracurricular activities began. They\u2019d use \u201c4:20 Louis\u201d as code for meeting up, and eventually dropped the \u201cLouis\u201d part. The phrase \u201c4:20\u201d became their secret shorthand. Fast forward a few years, the Waldos had a connection to the Grateful Dead \u2013 they knew some folks in the band\u2019s scene. And since the Dead were basically the soundtrack for the counterculture movement, the phrase started spreading through Deadhead circles. By the 1990s, a magazine called High Times picked it up, and boom \u2013 4\/20 became the de facto day to celebrate cannabis culture.<\/p>\n

But here\u2019s the thing: 4\/20 isn\u2019t just about getting high. It\u2019s become a symbol of protest, community, and even activism. In many places, April 20th is marked by rallies, music festivals, and calls for cannabis legalization. So while it\u2019s not an official public holiday (yet), it\u2019s treated like one by a huge number of people. And honestly, it\u2019s wild how a random code from a few California stoners turned into an international day of celebration. Now, every year on April 20th, you\u2019ll see events from Colorado to Canada to Amsterdam. It\u2019s a testament to how underground culture can bubble up and go mainstream.<\/p>\n

Questions related to how 4\/20 became a holiday<\/h2>\n

Is 4\/20 actually a real holiday?<\/strong>
\nWell, no \u2013 not in the government-recognized sense. You won\u2019t get the day off work or see banks closed. But for millions of people, it\u2019s a cultural holiday. Think of it like Cinco de Mayo \u2013 widely celebrated but not a federal day off. 4\/20 is more of a grassroots tradition that gained traction through word-of-mouth and media. Some cities even hold massive public events. So while it\u2019s not an official holiday, it\u2019s definitely a real one in the hearts of those who observe it.<\/p>\n

Why do people celebrate 4\/20 at 4:20 p.m.?<\/strong>
\nBecause that\u2019s the original time the Waldos would meet up. It\u2019s a ritual nod to the history \u2013 lighting up or gathering at exactly 4:20 p.m. on April 20th. It\u2019s like a secret handshake that became a global inside joke. Plus, the number 420 is easy to remember, so it stuck.<\/p>\n

Did the Waldos ever get famous for starting 4\/20?<\/strong>
\nKind of, but not in the way you\u2019d think. For decades, the origin story was a mystery. The Waldos stayed low-key until the late 1990s when they shared their story with High Times. Since then, they\u2019ve become minor celebrities in the cannabis world. They even have the original 4\/20 \u201ccode\u201d written on a piece of paper from 1971 \u2013 it\u2019s basically a historical artifact now. But they never made money off it or anything. They just think it\u2019s funny how big it got.<\/p>\n

Are there any official holidays on April 20th?<\/strong>
\nBesides 4\/20, April 20th is also Patriot\u2019s Day in some states (like Massachusetts) and the anniversary of the Columbine shooting \u2013 which is a totally separate, tragic event. That coincidence has caused some controversy, with people pointing out that 4\/20 celebrations might be insensitive. But most folks separate the two. Also, it\u2019s just a regular day on most calendars. So if you\u2019re looking for a day off, 4\/20 won\u2019t give it to you \u2013 unless your boss is cool.<\/p>\n

How did 4\/20 spread from California to the whole world?<\/strong>
\nIt\u2019s a textbook case of cultural diffusion. Grateful Dead fans carried the phrase across the country. Then High Times magazine gave it a national platform. With the internet in the 1990s and 2000s, the story spread even faster. Now, cannabis legalization movements have adopted 4\/20 as a rallying day. It\u2019s like how \u201cOK\u201d became a universal word \u2013 it just caught fire.<\/p>\n

So there you have it \u2013 the real story of how 4\/20 became a holiday. It started with a handful of kids in California and grew into a global phenomenon that blends fun, activism, and a little bit of rebellion. Whether you\u2019re a participant or just curious, knowing the history makes April 20th a whole lot more interesting. At public holiday calendar.com, we\u2019re all about helping you understand the days we celebrate \u2013 even the unofficial ones. Thanks for reading, I hope this article helped you get the full picture of how 4\/20 became a holiday. If you\u2019ve got more questions \u2013 like why some people call it \u201cWeed Day\u201d or whether it\u2019s celebrated differently in other countries \u2013 just hit us up. We\u2019re here to help.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hey everyone, I\u2019m your go-to public holiday assistant, and I\u2019m here to break down one of the most interesting \u2013 and maybe a little controversial \u2013 unofficial holidays out there. Recently, a buddy of mine hit me up asking about how 4\/20 became a holiday, and I figured it\u2019s about time we dug into the…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27044,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","slim_seo":{"title":"From Counterculture to Counter: The Surprising Story of How 4\/20 Became a Holiday - Public Holiday Calendar","description":"Hey everyone, I\u2019m your go-to public holiday assistant, and I\u2019m here to break down one of the most interesting \u2013 and maybe a little controversial \u2013 unofficial ho"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[278],"tags":[27904,5112,5068,27905,27903],"class_list":["post-27045","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","tag-4-20-history","tag-4-20-holiday-origin","tag-420-meaning","tag-how-did-4-20-start","tag-why-is-4-20-a-holiday"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.publicholidaycalendar.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27045","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.publicholidaycalendar.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.publicholidaycalendar.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.publicholidaycalendar.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.publicholidaycalendar.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27045"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.publicholidaycalendar.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27045\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27046,"href":"https:\/\/www.publicholidaycalendar.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27045\/revisions\/27046"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.publicholidaycalendar.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.publicholidaycalendar.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27045"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.publicholidaycalendar.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27045"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.publicholidaycalendar.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27045"}],"curies":[{"name":"\u53ef\u6e7f\u6027\u7c89\u5242","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}