This week on Century of Lies: A Look Back At Seattle Hempfest.
In August 1991, a group of weed activists and freedom lovers gathered in Volunteer Park in Seattle, Washington for the Washington Hemp Expo. From these modest beginnings grew the largest protestival in the world: Seattle Hempfest. The last time Hempfest was held outdoors in Seattle was August 2019, thousands upon thousands of attendees made their way to parks along the waterfront to celebrate marijuana legalization. Washington state, along with Colorado, voted in 2012 to legalize and regulate the adult use marijuana market, that’s when marijuana legalization took off. As a result, the 2013 Hempfest was a real landmark, the very first Hempfest at a time of legalization.
Today on Century, we hear an interview from the archives, a previously-unaired conversation between host Doug McVay and Seattle activist Ben Livingston recorded at Seattle Hempfest in August 2013, less than a year after the voters of Washington changed the world.
- KBOO