The Denver-area cannabis industry on Wednesday is going to party like it’s 2019.

Though the pandemic squelched the city’s April 20 rally the past two years, it’s coming back Wednesday with live music, beer service and dozens of vendor tents at Civic Center Park.

The 420 Festival, sponsored by Euflora and about 17 other cannabis industry businesses, will run from noon to 8 p.m., with live music starting at 4 p.m.

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There will also be tents from the Colorado Department of Transportation and AAA.

“As the largest gathering of cannabis consumers in Colorado, both CDOT and AAA Colorado will be there to educate attendees on the dangers of driving high,” according to a news release.

Street closures for the event include Bannock Street, between 13th & 14th avenues, and 14th Avenue, between Cherokee Street and Broadway. Organizers estimate that up to 30,000 people will attend the festival.

“This is a big deal,” said Scott Rybicki, owner of Euflora. “We think Mayor (Michael B.) Hancock should make April 20 a legal holiday. We were the first city in the world to legalize recreational use, and just look at all the tax revenues it has brought in since then.”

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For those who don’t know, “420” is slang in cannabis culture for “time to consume.” And even though public consumption of cannabis has always been illegal, many would openly consume at Civic Center on April 20 and a visible haze would hang over the park — especially at 4:20 p.m.

Rybicki said the company decided to organize the festival to prevent illegal consumption.

But they’re still getting complaints from anti-cannabis proponents that the event is not age-restricted and “promoting public consumption.”

One Chance to Grow Up, a nonprofit advocacy group, will promote safeguards to prevent underage cannabis consumption, and Denver charter school 5280 High School officials are planning a news conference Tuesday “calling on sponsors of Denver’s 420 festival to limit attendance to those 21 or older, aligning with the minimum age to legally use recreational marijuana,” according to a news release. The school serves 125 students in recovery from substance use.

“The corporate sponsors of the event have no idea whether children are registering for 420 because the organizers did not set a minimum age requirement for their event or their free ticketing registration process,” Henny Lasley, co-founder & executive director of One Chance to Grow Up, said in an email. “And, because registrants submit their email addresses, the marijuana industry has also collected personal information from any children who visited the site. Unless the marijuana industry deletes each and every email address gathered from this event, every new marketing campaign by these companies will target children.”

Euflora officials point to the event website, which says all ages are allowed, but “we recommend leaving small children at home.”

It also says: “Public consumption of marijuana is prohibited under Colorado state law. It’s also illegal to possess more than one ounce of marijuana or its equivalent in marijuana products under Colorado state law. Anyone caught distributing marijuana or using any illegal substances at the event will be turned over to local authorities.”

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“We wanted to provide a safer event for all attendees,” said Ashley Chubin, chief operating officer for FlyHi, a cannabis delivery company that works with Euflora. “We spent more than $125,000 on metal detectors and a private security staff of about 120, in addition to what Denver Police will have there.”

“We don’t condone marketing to children under 21-years-old,” Chubin said. “And we certainly don’t condone consumption for those under 21.”

Beer areas will be fenced off, with only 21 and over allowed. The VIP tickets are 21 and over only. And all of the exhibitors must keep marketing material inside a tent, and only allow those 21 and over inside, Chubin said. Marketing materials must be in a bag and handed only to age-verified attendees.

“We were advised by our lawyers that if it’s a free event in the park, it must be for all ages,” Chubin said.

Though free tickets are available, they aren’t required. It’s more of a method to get a handle on crowd size, and to notify participants of schedule changes or other event information, she said.

Denver Parks and Recreation spokeswoman Cyndi Karvaski said “public assembly” permits must be for all ages, and city parks must be open to all. Previous rally organizers got this type of public assembly permit (or were supposed to), she said.

But for the special event permit Euflora obtained, it could have required 21+ only, Karvaski said.

“Our thought process was, if we didn’t put an event on 10,000-20,000 would show up anyway — and they would be all ages,” Rybicki said.

He said there’s a double-standard with alcohol marketing and public events.

“You can’t even take your kids to a baseball game and not be surrounded by alcohol ads. Heck it’s called Coors Field,” he said.

“We want to focus on the positivity, especially coming out of COVID,” Chubin said. “We want to bring a celebration to the community in a safe and great way.”