Seattle Hempfest XI
Aug 17-18, 2002
by Pat Ferris

Around 150,000 people were living the high life last weekend in Seattle, as they packed Seattle's Myrtle Edwards Park for Hempfest XI, the largest marijuana-reform rallie in the world, as well as the largest free concert event in the Pacific Northwestern United States. 

Heavy construction on the Seattle waterfront park gave Hempfest organizers a challenge of how to arrange stages, exhibits and vending areas to accommodate the crowd, ultimately affecting overall attendance, down approximately 25% from last year's 1/4 million 'high'...err...peak. 

The weekend festivities were kicked off on Friday evening at The Rainbow, one of Seattle's hottest live music clubs, with Seattle band, Phat Sidy Smokehouse (HotBands featured band - June 1999) and Berkeley, California band, Ten Ton Chicken (HotBands featured band - Nov 2001). TTC's newest member, keyboardist Greg Sankovich, added to the 'Chicken Soup' with funky chops that filled a big pair of shoes left with the departure of their previous keyboardist, Nick Peck. TTC followed up with a finale performance at the hempfest mainstage at 6pm to a crowd several thousand strong. 

Phat Sidy Smokehouse has again changed their line-up and sound, losing a trumpet, while adding rap, percussion and DJ to their original core group (bass, drum, guitar, sax, vocal). Judging from the raw energy packed into The Rainbow, Phat Sidy seems to have another winner to their ever-evolving sound.  

The maze of fence surrounding the park's construction zones made navigation through the sea of people difficult and limited me from seeing all of the bands I wanted to, but  some of the highlights of this year's Hempfest included Otis P & the Jivefunk; family band, Abakadubi; Hempfest co-founders, The Herbivores; Children of the Revolution; and Fishbone.  

Seattle Hempfest director and President of the Washington State chapter of NORML, Dominic Holden, became involved with the event in 1994. 'The vast majority of marijuana smokers are like all other adults and have jobs and families,' he said. 'In a nutshell, Seattle Hempfest advocates adults who use marijuana responsibly should not be treated as criminals, and nonviolent drug offenders need alternatives to incarceration such as treatment and job training.' 

A beautiful sunny summer day in Seattle contributed to another successful Hempfest, helping to make the overall feel of the entire weekend a fun party...more like a Grateful Dead show, but  featuring over 70 local and national artists and bands selected from over a thousand entries,  hundreds of vendors selling everything from hemp clothing to hemp food, as well as exhibits and uses for hemp and hemp by-products. 

For more information on Seattle Hempfest, CLICK HERE

Top of Page