For the first time in years, weed aficionados were not able to gather at Golden Gate Park's Hippie Hill and light up a joint at the annual 4/20 celebration.

Although not officially sanctioned or permitted until 2017, the annual event has been tolerated for years by San Francisco officials. However, this year due to the COVID-19 restrictions on public gatherings, the yearly 4/20 Hippie Hill event, which usually attracts thousands of people from across the Bay Area, was canceled.

"We will not tolerate anyone coming to San Francisco for 4/20 this year," San Francisco Mayor London Breed announced at a press conference last week. "Police officers will be patrolling the area. We will cite people and, if necessary, arrest them."

To additionally deter people from attempting to smoke in the park, a combination of San Francisco police officers, sheriffs, and park rangers patrolled a chain-link fence that was set up to cordon off Hippie Hill in Robin Williams Meadow.

Sections of JFK Drive, Martin Luther King Jr. Drive and Bowling Green Drive closed to vehicular traffic and parking was prohibited on Kezar Drive.

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By early afternoon a park ranger confirmed to SFGATE there have been no attempts to enter the fenced-off area of the park.

Here's is a look at the measures taken to close off Hippie Hill in Golden Gate Park on 4/20.