For the eighth year in a row, the Santa Barbara Hemp Festival
goes down this weekend on Saturday, November 4. But rather than
take over the county courthouse’s Sunken Gardens as in years
past — where attendees wondered whether their love for the
medicinal herb and its many fibrous incarnations might land them
inside those courtrooms — this year’s fest is going down at Isla
Vista’s Anisq’Oyo Park, from noon ’til 6 p.m. Here are three
reasons to check it out:
1) The buds and stems: Informational booths
about medical marijuana will sit alongside vendors of the latest in
hemp soaps, foods, ointments, and pretty much anything else good
for you that’s imaginable. Despite the feds’ attempt to stop the
sales of hemp products a couple years back, consumer demand kept
the industry booming.
2) The duds: If you haven’t been to Hempwise in
I.V. lately, you’re missing out on the latest earth-toned,
hemp-woven trends. In an age of overstyling and gaudiness, the
simplicity offered in hemp clothing is soothing. Don’t believe it?
Check out the hemp fashion show in the park.
3) The sounds: A hemp fest wouldn’t be a fest
without live music and guest speakers. This Saturday, there’ll be
sets from S.B. hip-hop outfit The Limbz, Chico’s mixed-genre
masters Pyrx, and reggae stalwarts Cornerstone, plus some
commentary from those at the forefront of California’s battle to
keep marijuana as medicine and hemp as an environmentally
sustainable alternative to most other commercially produced
goods.