SATURDAY
April 30th
Members of the Northern Rivers
Hemp Association are keen to meet any potential farmers, product
processors or anyone interested in the NSW hemp industry, at
their display behind the Oasis Cafe (See map). Check out fibre
and seed samples from the 2011 crop, hemp fabrics, papers, building
materials and plastics, footage of the first NSW commercial
hempseed food crops and a video of hemp building.
Find out about the Northern Rivers Hemp Association and what
they're doing."
Peace
Park * Register for the MWSCC
(MardiGrass World Stoned Chess Championship) at the Chai Tent
by Midday Saturday, in Peace Park. Winner decided by Sunday
sunset. Drug testing will be compulsory, but not after every
move!
4:20am to Dawn *
Mahawana Sunrise Meditation
10am * The POT POETS Breakfast
with MC David Hallet...A potted pot-pourri of some of the region's
top performance poets will be poeting their infamous pot poems....visiting
pot poets welcome.
11am * Kaptan Reefer and the Konescrapers plus Johnny (No Cash)
Ganja
11am * SEED SWAP
11:30
* Hemp Olympix registration
12:00 * MardiGrass
World Stoned Chess Championship registration closes, competition
begins.
12:00 - 2:00 * Tug O'War
between Police and Polite with the Big Hemp Rope followed by
the Hemp Olympix First Heats of the Bong Throw and Yell, followed
by the Growers Ironperson Event. Hosted by S Sorrensen and Alan
Glover.
1:00 pm * Medical
Cannabis Tent * "Bubblebag"
Hash Making Demonstration * Bubble Bag demonstration
- Come see and learn how to use official Bubble Bag brand water
filtration bags so that you can produce the highest quality
resin extract from your plants. This will be a demonstration
using lavender.
2:00 to 3:00 pm * MUSIC
* The EXPRESS
With Manju Winkler playing blues guitar in the style of Jimi
Hendrix and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Featuring Dave Baston on bass
and Saras Perkons on drums.
2:00 pm till 5:00
pm * Medical Cannabis Tent * Top O' Peace Park * MULLAWAY MEDICAL
CANNABIS MEETING where Tony Bower is compiling a register for
his soon to be authorised medical cannabis clinic, the first
in the country. MS, HIV, cancer and chronic pain sufferers are
invited to be part of Australias first legal medical cannabis
dispensary trial. Bring medical documentation to confirm your
condition if you are a new applicant.
2:00pm HEMP Party
meeting in Medicinal Cannabis Tent HEMP Party Conference
'Where we're At'
Reports from the President and the Secretary
'Where we're Going'
Topics for discussion and resolution
1. Formation of interstate branches?
2. Registrations at State levels?
3. We need funding to operate more effectively. How?
4. Party policies other than re-legalisation?
5. Any other topics arising. (Give some notice to the Secretary
please)
All interested HEMP Party Members are urged to attend.
Graham Askey
Secretary HEMP Party
3:00 pm * Tug O' Peace
with the hemp rope. (Teams of 5 who must have something in common!) followed
by Hemp Olympix Joint Rolling First Heats (Speed, Artistic and
Adverse Conditions) and a chance for everyone to roll a "joint"
for the Global Marijuana March after.
3:00 - 4:00 pm Peace
Park. Kids Space. Circus Manipulation Play (hoops, juggling,
trick sticks) 5:00 - 6:00 pm Basic tumbling and Acro-balance
work shop.ReAct Circus is a local circus group bursting with
unimaginable natural talent collected from the north coast area.
With a shows consisting of Breath taking acro- balance, stilts
walking and the terrific trapeze, you are bound to be blown
away.
4:00 pm * Global Marijuana
March leaves Peace Park for the HEMP Embassy and arrival of
the Kombi Konvoy for a world record attempt at the most joints
ever lit at once in the one place.......Before leaving everyone
will be encouraged to roll something that looks like a joint
from herbs provided or whatever, so that when we all arrive
outside the Embassy after the Konvoy has passed, we can, at
the call, light up simultaneously, and please blow as much smoke
as possible for the cameras. The whole world is watching....whatever
sort of joint you feel comfortable with?!
Harvest
Ball - 6:00pm
- Peace Park Concert for Cannabis Law Reform
MardiGrass Big Saturday
Night Out in Peace Park.
John Douvris * 5:00pm
Irie Knights * 6:00pm
Johny Ganja * 7:00pm
Anarchist Duck * 7:30pm
ReAct Stage Circus Performance * 8:30pm
A French Butler Called Smith * 8:50pm
OKA * 10:00pm
Town Hall:
Chill Zone, Medical Cannabis meeting place, Movies, Music, Food,
Peace & Quiet in the Garden. The MardiGrass Family Cafe
in the Town Hall open all weekend.
12:00* Midday -
6pm
Join Pragmatic
Visionaries & Solipsistic Psychonauts
for an afternoon of
Debate, Discussion & the Occasional Stoned Rave
Outrageous Truths & Believable
Lies!
Mind candy? Afternoon distraction or
hours of brain bending banter? You decide! This year the Nimbin
Mardi Grass is playing host to a series of panel discussions
to be held in the Town Hall from midday to 6pm on Saturday 30
April, focusing on the big issues: the legal, medical, spiritual,
cultural & political aspects of plant life. For this reason
we've assembled a cast of academics, intellectuals, professionals,
politicians, public servants, activists, hippies, poets, career
bullshit artists and just plain ol' troublemakers to stir the
pot (as it were).
Mardi Grass Mind Candy is excited to announce that Paul Cubitt,
President of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition [LEAP] Australia
will speak on our panel discussing policing choices. The panels
will also feature international guest speaker, Dr Robert Melamede,
CEO and President of Cannabis Science, Inc., as well as Australian
drug law reform luminaries, Sandra Kanck, SA spokesperson for
Families and Friends of Drug Law Reform and Prof Paul Wilson,
Chair of Criminology, Bond University. A full listing of our
other magnificent speakers appear in the program.
Whilst we recognise the ultimate futility of spending too much
time trying to talk about what is essentially a non-verbal experience
(getting high), there's also quite a few pot-related topics
that do need some discussion:
Join us for an afternoon joint
and a good natter.
FEATURING GUEST SPEAKERS:
Jacob Potkonyak
(Students for Sensible Drug Policy), Greg
Kasarik (Community of Infinite Colour), Steve
Bolt, Mulga, Dr
John Jiggens, David Hallett, Neil Pike,
(Pagan Love Cult), Alan Salt (Webhead,
HEMP Embassy), Erik van Keulen,
Stephanie Clerc (Happy High Herbs),
Torsten Wiedemann (Koda Phytorium),
Joe King, Dr
Des Tramacchi, Dr Graham Irvine,
Dr
Robert Melamede, Tony
"Mullawayman" Bower, Frank
Kirk, Sandra Kanck,,
Paul Wilson , Paul
Cubitt -Leap Representative from the newly formed Australian
LEAP, Dr
Reza Ghaffurian and Dr
Andrew Katelaris.
Midday - 1pm
THE GREEN GODDESS
Entheogenic cultures can increase
benefits and reduce risks, offering a different approach to
Western-style legal regulation
FACILITATOR: Dr Des Tramacchi
PANELISTS: Dr Reza Ghaffurian, Rev. Mark ‘Moose’
Heinrich, Greg Kasarik [Community of Infinite Colour], Frank
Kirk, Dr Bob Melamede [Cannabis Science, Inc.]
The religious and cultural history of the Cannabis plant presents
an extraordinarily rich tapestry. Cannabis spirituality spans
time and space, from the Ancient Scythians of central Asia,
to the Cora shamans of Mexico, to here and now. Join us on a
flying shuttle, as this panel explores the warps and wefts of
this most Holy Herb. Ancient legend maintains that marihuana
was the first plant to grow on the grave of King Solomon the
Wise. Among the Brahmins of northern India the Cannabis sacrament,
or Bhang Nama, is regarded with pragmatism as a substance that
makes one devotional. Like the god Shiva, one who uses Cannabis
can divest themselves of the perishable body and pass directly
into reunion with the spirit of the universe. In Tibetan Tantric
practice Cannabis aids in achieving deep states of meditation
and heightened awareness. For Rastafari, ganja is a Biblical
sacrament that purifies and heals, promoting right thought and
right action. The panel will also compare the contemporary interest
in spiritual exploration using other well-known entheogens like
ayahuasca. Why are other entheogens like San Pedro or DMT often
approached with more explicit reverence? Is there an optimum
way to approach Cannabis in order to maximize its spiritual
benefits? Does it depend on the individual?
1 - 2pm
POLICE FORCE OR POLICE SERVICE?
What is good policing? What choices
do police have?
FACILITATOR: Prof Paul Wilson, Bond University
PANELISTS: Steve Bolt, Paul Cubitt [Law Enforcement Against
Prohibition], Dr John Jiggens, Justin [Stoned Fish Takeaway],
Sandra Kanck [Families and Friends of Drug Law Reform], Kara
[Daizy]
Police are on the frontline of the war on drugs. Increasingly,
police and other law enforcement workers around the world are
speaking out against prohibition. Some are concerned about risks
to police integrity -- prohibition inevitably results in corruption.
Some are concerned about pressures on police effectiveness,
when scarce police resources are spent fighting "victimless
crimes", often with little community support. Others are
concerned about the decline in respect for law enforcement that
comes with prohibition. Others yet are concerned about the other
harms that prohibition causes, when criminals gangs fight among
themselves for the vast profits that are possible by selling
drugs, often to our kids, that are usually cut or fake and therefore
more dangerous than what they pretend to be. The NSW Police
Force was the NSW Police Service until a few years ago. Their
motto is "Culpam Poena Premit Comes", which means
"Punishment follows close on guilt". Should the police
judge and punish, or should this remain with the courts and
corrective services? And what are we to make of the many commissions
and reports that document individual and institutionalised corruption
in the police force? Police choices and policing behaviours
matter. So what choices are our police making? This panel will
discuss all this and more, focusing on what choices are available
to police, both individually and as an institution.
2 - 3pm
BONG ON AUSSIE, BONG ON ~ DID CANNABIS CULTURE GET DUMBED DOWN?
Is anyone still getting high or are
we just getting wasted?
FACILITATOR: JulianR
PANELISTS: David Hallett, Greg Kasarik [Community of Infinite
Colour], Frank Kirk, Dr Bob Melamede [Cannabis Science, Inc.],
Neil Pike [Pagan Love Cult], Alan Salt [HEMP Embassy] + surprise
guests and THE AUDIENCE
In the mass wave of pot use in the 1960s, marijuana had a bohemian
credibility.. “This will make you hipper, holier &
wiser”.. but sometime in the 1970s it turned into “This
will get you shit-faced”. Why did Ginsberg’s “best
minds of my generation” turn into Cheech & Chong and
Beavis & Butthead? Is anyone still getting “high”
or are we all just getting “wasted”? Is this a good
or bad thing? Grass has blended with Australian identity to
give us a distinctive pot culture, as documented in John Birmingham’s
book DOPELAND, and Nimbin is a sacred site for that culture,
in all its promise and reality. As well as enlightenment, there
is paranoia, as well as art, there is paraphernalia and as well
as cuisine, there are the munchies. Whether its lawyers doing
buckets or the cat that liked a cone, every stoner has a story
and if you have a few about a FOAF (friend of a friend), then
this is the forum to get them out there, in discussion with
the panel.
3 - 4pm
LEGISLATING FOR LEGOLAND?
How do we react to drug policy?
FACILITATOR: Erik van Keulen
PANELISTS: Stephanie Clerc [Happy High Herbs], Mulga, Jake Potkonyak,
[Students for Sensible Drug Policy], Torsten Wiedemann [Koda
Phytorium]
Drug policy grows in a field of tensions, sown by politicians
who are keen to distract us, fed on the bright light of media
attention, then trained along byzantine trellises by bureaucrats
so that it shades the road that's paved with good intentions...So
what can we do about it? In this panel, we'll look at a current
example of drug policy in action. In February this year, the
Australian federal Attorney-General's department released a
discussion paper and sought comments on a proposal to address
criminal profits by adding an unknown number of plant species
to the drug schedules in the Criminal Code Act. The proposal
attracted a groundswell of passionate concern. Although GetUp!
decided not to take up the issue, hundreds of people are submitting
comments to the consultation process, helped by a number of
websites that explained the issues and offered template submissions.
opendecisions.net/opendecisions
gardenfreedom.com
happyhighherbs.com/Herb-Freedom
We'll look at what worked and what didn't work, and we'll reflect
on what else we can do to influence the drug policy debate in
Australia.
5 - 6pm
HOW CAN WE LEGALIZE DRUGS?
How can we proact in the drug policy discourse?
FACILITATOR: Erik van Keulen
PANELISTS: Tony Bower [Mullaways Medical Cannabis Pty Ltd],
Dr Graham Irvine, Sandra Kanck [Families and Friends of Drug
Law Reform], Dr Andrew Katelaris, Joe King
We're more often reactive than proactive. We didn't start the
war on drugs, and we often wish it would just go away! But 50
years of drug control have become a self-perpetuating system.
We need to do more than defend ourselves. But what can we say
and do to put drug worriers on the run? It can be difficult
to engage with the dominant drug policy paradigm, which assumes
that all drug use is drug abuse, and harmful. This assumption
characterises what sociologists call a "Temperance culture"
-- a specific way of worrying about intoxication that the Scandinavian
countries, the UK and the USA have exported and imposed on the
rest of us. Shaped by these assumptions, Australia's National
Drug Strategy rests on 3 pillars -- supply reduction, demand
reduction, and harm reduction. In a Temperance culture, harm
reduction is about the best we can hope for. Prohibitionists
are more comfortable with zero tolerance and tough love, and
they're more likely to increase harm than to reduce it. What
can we say and do to turn this around? How does the policy debate
work, and how can we drive it?
http://opendecisions.net/opendecisions/
http://www.gardenfreedom.com/
http://www.happyhighherbs.com/Herb-Freedom
We'll look at what worked and
what didn't work, and we'll reflect on what else we can do to
influence the drug policy debate in Australia.
4:20 pm * Kombi Konvoy
turning up outside.
5:00 pm * More
Beyond Prohibition conference....summary
6:00 pm * The Cooking
with Cannabis, Vaporizer demonstration and other ways of getting
Good Medicine into you without smoking. MC: The Cookie Queen.
Winner of the Cannabis Cookie Cup will be announced!
7:00pm * Dinner with
Dr Bob and our other Special Guests. Dinner
from 7:00pm, Comedy Show from 8:00pm to 10:00pm, Without armband:
$10.00
8
till 10:00 pm Stand
Up Comedy Show ......Saturday night only... hosted by S Sorrensen &
Alan Glover
10pm * The Nomads
and Sheik Yatush.... Middle Eastern dance with local live music.
Other Roadside Attractions:
11:00AM Last chance to join
the Ganja Faeries. Meeting at the signs (by the Oasis)
at the exit of the Western Car Park for Final Practice. LAST
CHANCE to be in the Parade WITH the Faeries.
10-11am Market Space.
ReAct Circus Roving Performance.
12- 1 Fiona Ryan
1:30 - 2:30 Sheik Yatush fet. The Nomads
3 - 4 Essie Thomas
4:30 - 5:30 Skin (paulie & co)
6 - 7 Mantlepiece
7:30 - 8:30 Imandan
Rainbow Cafe * Est. 1973
: 6:30pm on * Pepper Boys and more..
HEMP Party
Bar
and POLITE BUREAU - Fair Dinkum stand up voters can register
here to join the HEMP Party!
The H*E*M*P*Bar (and web camera) will be
"Demonstrating" a wide selection of highly delicious
and nutritious (zero THC) Hemp Foods during the MardiGrass.
Hemp Burgers, Hemp Cakes, Hemp Cookies and Chocolate Hemp Truffles.
We will also be offering all varieties of hot and cold coffee,
tea and chai as well as local Love cordial.
As we all know the H*E*M*P*Bar can only seat 42.0 people
comfortably at any one time, so a MardiGrass Pass will be required.
8.30 till late * The H*E*M*P*Bar will be hosting a
W.A.N party, where the focus is to be on uploading images and
other information to youtubes, facebooks and other networks,
bring your laptop, mobile phone and camera.....
4:00 pm * Church of The
Holy Smoke Mass Baptism with Her Holiness The Goddess,
preparing everyone for the Mass Lightup!
The 'Goddess' will be inducting novitiates into the Church
Of The HolySmoke with the Pork Fork and ignition of a US$100
note, as we all burn together sacred herb. NimbinHempBar.com
4:20pm KOMBI
KONVOY arrives in Nimbin, having wended
its way from Byron Bay, via Lismore.
Sponsored by Rvbyesque - Could people in the crowd please refrain
from jumping on the back bumpers of Kombis as they pass through
town, as it can damage the vehicles. Pliz sho' respekt bro'.
4:20 pm * The Global
Marijuana March Where well over 1 million
cannabis law reform activists in nearly 300 cities around the
globe will be protesting. (Global M March is May 7, so we're
a little out of sync this year.) In Nimbin we will once again
aim to break the world record for the most joints ever lit at
once in the same place at the same time.
Peoples in Peace Park will have already prepared "joints"
of many herbs, and will arrive outside the Embassy in time for
the arrival of the Kombi Konvoy.Please bring a smokable "joint".
After the last Kombi has passed, wait for the call and we will
light up, and produce as much smoke as possible for the cameras
recording the event.
Viva la Fume!
6:00 pm * HEMP Party Members meet 6:00 pm
each evening in the HEMP BAR.
Nimbin Community Centre
* MardiGrass Market Stage * Family Friendly *
Cranking music all weekend:
MC Bo Kaan
Pot Art - entries
can be left or sent to the HEMP Embassy from April First
Nimbin Hotel
* Arvo-2pm start-Azzadoota * Nite-7.30-King Farook.
Food,
drink, and live entertainment
Birth & Beyond
* * The Nimbin Environment Centre
is running MardiGrass Movies and a Chill Space in Birth and
Beyond all weekend. The Hemp Solution, past MardiGrass Movies,
Cheech and Chong, Environmental Films and more. Soup and Chai
available. Armband entry or Donation
Mingle Park
* DRY CAMP * Behind the Museum
..Music and comedy from midday Saturday with "Yarndi Yarns
1:00pm JAG (Justice Action Group) BBQ with free legal
counselling, includes "In Our Dreams"...a demonstration
of a legal cannabis market and how it could work to the benefit
of everyone. Actors needed! Music throughout the weekend including
Paranoia Club, Louis Burdett, Manu, Fires from Africa, Chris
Fisher, Floating Bridges and Lucky Last.
MC Robert Corowa says."Freedom is for all plants and animals
as well as humans. No one has the right to tell me what I can
or cannot eat."
Hemp Embassy
Back Veranda * Mid-day * Talk with Kog
at midday on the HEMP Embassy back verandah where he will sign
copies of his Golden Book on growing, or the CD, which will
be showing in the Embassy and Museum all weekend.
3:00 pm * Between a Rock and a hard place.
Lawful discussions with the one and only Living
In Body.
The BOWLO
1:00pm at the *BOWLO* Sixth
Hemplore Pro Pot Art Tattoo Show (Entrants register 10:00am
to 12:45pm) Music by the Antibodies and Kaliba!
8:00pm on * NIM
FM MARDIGRASS ALL NIGHT DANCE PARTY "WikiDoof"
........bring your radio, headset, phone, earphones or whatever
you need to tune in to 102.3.
The very first attempt at Prohibition!
"Don't eat the Fruit of the Tree
of Knowledge of Good and Evil."
So what's the first thing they did?
Ate the forbidden fruit.
The failure of Prohibition has a long history.
Roll it up!
SUNDAY
May 1st
Town
Hall:
Chill Zone, Forums, Movies, Music, Food, with Peace & Quiet
in the Garden at least. The MardiGrass Family Cafe in the Town
Hall open all weekend.
11:00 am * Legal Advice
Session with Steve Bolt and James Moylan.
12:00 * Industrial Hemp
Forum, - Speakers include Dr Keith Bolton, Dr Andrew Katelaris
and NSW hemp farmers. If you are interested in being involved
in the local hemp industry, come to the Hemp Forum.
1:00 pm * MardiGrass
Beyond Prohibition Workshop - MC Ray Thorpe. Special guests;
Dr Alex Wodak, Paul Wilson, Sandra Kanck, Dr Bob Melamede and
friends.
2:30 pm * The Rally is on.
5:00 pm * Joint Rolling
Finals, followed by the Plantathlon Award for the best Hemp
Olympix All-rounder, in memory of Chicken
George, the legedary Plantem of previous
MardiGrass.
6:00 pm * The Cooking
with Cannabis, Vaporizer demonstration and other ways of getting
Good Medicine into you without smoking. MC: The Cookie Queen.
7:00pm * Sunday Dinner
with our MardiGrass Guests.
Peace Park:
Dawn * Mahawana Sunrise Meditation
10:00 am * The Pot Poets Breakfast......MC
David Hallet .......A potted pot-pourri of some of the region's
top performance poets will be poeting their infamous pot poems....visiting
pot poets welcome.
11:00 am
* MUSIC *
11:00 am * Seed Swap
11:30 * Hemp Olympix registration
for Last Heats.
12:00 till 2:00 pm * Hemp Olympix
* Last Heats and Finals] Growers Iron Person, Tug O' Peace &
Bong Throw and Yell.
12:00 pm and 5:00 pm * Medical
Cannabis Tent * Top O' Peace Park * MULLAWAY MEDICAL CANNABIS
MEETING where Tony Bower is compiling a register for his soon
to be authorised medical cannabis clinic, the first in the country.
MS, HIV, cancer and chronic pain sufferers are invited to be
part of Australias first legal medical cannabis dispensary trial.
1:00 pm * Leif's Circus Workshop
for kids
1:00 pm * Medical
Cannabis Tent * "Bubblebag"
Hash Making Demonstration * Bubble Bag demonstration
- Come see and learn how to use official Bubble Bag brand water
filtration bags so that you can produce the highest quality
resin extract from your plants. This will be a demonstration
using lavender.
CANNABIS LAW REFORM RALLY AND PARADE * Prohibition
is an incitement, not a control!
Remember there will be Road
Closure of Cecil St. from Showgrounds and turning into Cecil
St. from 2pm - 2.45pm - It's the Rally Point for March. From
2:30 to 3:00pm in Cullen Street between Cecil and Sibley traffic
will be delayed by the parade.
2:00pm
* Gather and get ready for the MardiGrass Parade. If you want to
be in it join us all at the top of Cecil Street where it meets
Cullen Street, opposite the local Police Station. The march
is the main event, so please come.
FLOAT COMPETITION
First Prize One Thousand
dollars. Second Prize $250 voucher from Happy High Herbs Third Prize $100 voucher from Happy High Herbs
CONDITIONS:
Height � Floats must not exceed 3.2 metres from �the
road�.
Width � Must not exceed 2.4 metres wide.
Length � Should not exceed 4.2 metres long, however
this is a bit flexible.
Floats must be peopled or green powered.
You will be given a competitor number at the beginning
of the Parade. Floats may feature a single person
or group, or may be a centrepiece of a larger on foot
display.
These floats are our
opportunity to present a powerful message to the outside
world of both celebration and/or protest. Your float
can express whatever you feel or want to share. We
need floats and displays that reflect our area, our
people, our pride and desires for the future, our
fun and festivity.
Drug Law Reform is a
major focus of this festival and we encourage all
to have their say.
JUDGING:
Judges will remain unknown
until the day of the event. They will be women and
men, and mostly not part of the Happy High Herb shop.
A 1-10 point score method
will be adopted.
1. Judged pre-parade
whilst assembling:
Use of recycled materials
Originality
Punctuality
2. Judging During Parade:
Function (Locomotion)
Costumes
Message power
Overall effect
Crowd response
PRIZES will be presented
to nominated heads of winning floats in Peace Park
after the Rally. Contact the HEMP Embassy for details
on 66891842
|
2:30pm CANNABIS LAW
REFORM PARADE
The Parade begins at 2:30pm led by the Widjibal Elders
of the Bunjalung Nation, with children holding the Koori flag,
and makes its way to the Rally in Peace Park. Sometimes the
parade might stop while the Ganja Faeries up front do a brief
performance. This keeps the parade from being too hasty and
allows the crowd a better opportunity to take it all in. Everyone
waits behind the BIG JOINT until the procession continues. No
rush. Percussionists who have not been practicing with the Ganja
Faerie troupe are asked to form a second Drumming Troupe, further
back in the parade to provide a continuing accompaniment for
the parade. The procession will eventually make its way to the
Rally for Cannabis Law Reform in Peace Park.