Harvest Dance Festival Educates and Motivates in Sonoma County

Cannabis activists flock to Sebastopol to dance the night away after a long harvest

The 11^th Annual Harvest Dance and Celebration took place on November 7^th at the Sebastopol Community Center in beautiful Sonoma County, CA. The day was filled with entertaining and educational speakers filling the community with information on topics such as cultivating cannabis, legal rights training, solar opportunities, safe medicines, legalization, and the future of the movement. The night was filled with music and dancing in a large tent that was set up off of the community center with acts like Animal Liberation Orchestra and Human Revolution melodically working the crowd with music that was moving and mellow all at the same time. The event benefited Americans for Safe Access in their quest to ensure patients’ rights are upheld and implemented across the nation. The day was warm and cold all at the same time and provided a very harvesty feeling to the event.

  

Often we take for granted the hard and tireless work it takes to harvest high quality cannabis, so it is inspiring to attend an event that pays homage to the process and gives the brave souls who toil daily in legal gray areas to bring their harvest in a place to blow off some steam and enjoy the day. The event was sponsored by Sebastopol’s local medical cannabis dispensing collective, Peace in Medicine, founded by Robert Jacob in 2007 to provide cannabis medicines to the local community. The official poster and advertising for the event was a soft green and yellow print with cannabis leaves abounding across a background of sun rays, officially making the event an out-of-the-closet, full-blown, cannabis harvest event, not to be confused with the grape harvest many wine connoisseurs attend this same time of year. Mitcho Thompson of Peace in Medicine oversaw the event’s speaker list, vendor booths, and operations schedule orchestrated the event and directed the volunteer staff. It was a mostly smooth and accommodating experience that was enhanced greatly by the warm and caring nature of the people running it.

During the day people would approach the community center to a welcoming group of informative staffers. Outside of the community center there were vendor booths lined up selling jewelry, clothing, and some good old fashioned down home barbecue. Inside the center there were more vendor tables lining the hall, including the likes of Cannabis Action Network, Advanced Nutrients, ASA, Vapor Brothers and many more. Out the side door there was a dome set up for the “Kids Zone,” where they were doing face painting, juggling, and art projects with the youngsters. In the back of the venue outside was a medication tent for patients that was much smaller than the year past and was overcrowded for most of the day, meaning patients were medicating more “around the tent,” than actually in it, but it was a nice enough day to where it was not problematic. Most patients enjoyed the company of each other and had an enjoyable time trying one another’s recently harvested medicines and products derived from those medicines.

As the day wore on, there were several interesting speakers. Ed Rosenthal dawned the stage in a freestyle “Ask Ed” Q&A session where audience members picked the brain of the Guru of Ganja for most of an hour. The ever-humorous Rosenthal did not disappoint, as he knocked down question after question, poised in his relaxed manner on a chair smiling and answering questions as if he were sitting with a group of close friends. Volunteers from Americans for Safe Access did an inspired Legal Training informing onlookers of the dangers that still existed regarding law enforcement procedures and the best methods for handling those encounters. Kyle Kushman, of High Times fame, gave an informative speech on cultivation methods that seemed to go on and on and on and on, but he had some good information overall for those who stayed awake through it all.

Following the individual speakers were some great panel discussions. The first was a discussion on the Tax and Regulate initiatives and legalization bills on the horizon. Dale Gieringer, Jeff Jones, Chris Conrad, and Dale Clare engaged in a spirited discussion. Chris Conrad boldly declared that it was okay to have a spirited debate over the different approaches to legalization and the different initiatives, but when one or all of them get on the ballot we must unite behind them, say nothing negative, and help to ensure that the status quo is broken and cannabis prohibition is rolled back in the State of California. His words were right on target, as he understands that although no measure, initiative, or bill is perfect, doing nothing is much worse.

A second panel included Don Duncan, Mikki Norris, Dave McCullick, Bill Panzer, Rob Kampia, and myself. Our discussion focused on the future of the movement. Mikki Norris engaged the crowds on the possibilities that lie ahead in both the medical and adult use aspects of cannabis. Don Duncan helped us to understand better the local regulatory practices that were happening and gave great insight into the ways that cities, like Los Angeles, were attempting to undermine the will of the voters and pass strict regulations that would leave most providers unable to meet the rigid requirements, thus virtually cutting off safe access to tens of thousands of patients. Rob Kampia discussed the many state’s that were attempting to pass medical cannabis laws and the nuances of those situations. Bill panzer, in lawyeresque fashion pondered whether any of the current methods of providing medicine were legal, in effect going as far as to state that most dispensing collectives were illegal. From the looks on the crowds face after his statements there was massive confusion and it seemed as if the sky was falling. I attempted to explain the business aspects of the industry that was developing and how the regulatory emergence would create an even more competitive business environment in which the movement would grow immensely. The discussions were well rounded, educational, and informative.

After the educational aspects of the festival were finished, folks moved out to the dance hall tent to enjoy the night and the company of others, as the bands jammed mellow melodies of inspiration and delight. Several of the community got down and let their freak flags fly. Harborside Mangement Associate, James Anthony, tore up the dance floor in a green ensemble, complete with a green skirt, green tights, green socks, and green converse. Capitol Wellness Director Aundre Speciale had her Bud Fairy outfit on. The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence were in the house dressed to a tee and loving it. Kids and cougars from all over spent the night jamming and grooving to the beats of Human Revolution and Animal Liberation Orchestra. The stage was dawned with two huge crystals and the venue was filled with a wispy fog accentuated by laser light shows. It was an impressive set up and a good time for all.

The event was a great benefit to Americans for Safe Access and a wonderful opportunity for the community to come together in a show of harvested solidarity. The day was magnificent and those in attendance all enjoyed themselves immensely. Cannabis was the reason for the season and the vast resources this event provided inspired those who came to find a celebration of their favorite plant. The hard work of the Peace in Medicine, ASA, and volunteers paid off, as the event went of without a hitch and smiles were contagious. If you missed it, be sure to put it on your calendar for next year. You will not be disappointed.