Portland's Hempstalk Festival is an annual event in Portland

Portland, Oregon

Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

, Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

 advocating decriminalization

Decriminalization

Decriminalization or Decriminalisation is the abolition of criminal penalties in relation to certain acts, perhaps retroactively, though perhaps regulated permits or fines might still apply . The reverse process is criminalization.Decriminalization reflects changing social and moral views...

 of marijuana

Cannabis (drug)

Cannabis, also known as marijuana among many other names, refers to any number of preparations of the Cannabis plant intended for use as a psychoactive drug or for medicinal purposes. The English term marijuana comes from the Mexican Spanish word marihuana...

 for medicinal

Medical cannabis

Medical cannabis refers to the use of parts of the herb cannabis as a physician-recommended form of medicine or herbal therapy, or to synthetic forms of specific cannabinoids such as THC as a physician-recommended form of medicine...

, industrial

Industry

Industry refers to the production of an economic good or service within an economy.-Industrial sectors:There are four key industrial economic sectors: the primary sector, largely raw material extraction industries such as mining and farming; the secondary sector, involving refining, construction,...

, and recreational

Recreational drug use

Recreational drug use is the use of a drug, usually psychoactive, with the intention of creating or enhancing recreational experience. Such use is controversial, however, often being considered to be also drug abuse, and it is often illegal...

 use. Founded in 2005, the festival often takes place the weekend after Labor Day

Labor Day

Labor Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September that celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers.-History:...

 and features food vendors, live music, and information booths. The event has always been free to attend.

According to Paul Stanford, founder and director of the event, "Hempstalk is about the many uses of industrial hemp

Hemp

Hemp is mostly used as a name for low tetrahydrocannabinol strains of the plant Cannabis sativa, of fiber and/or oilseed varieties. In modern times, hemp has been used for industrial purposes including paper, textiles, biodegradable plastics, construction, health food and fuel with modest...

 fiber, oil

Hemp oil

Hempseed oil is pressed from the seed of the hemp plant irrespective of the strain of cannabis. Cold pressed, unrefined hemp oil is dark to clear light green in color, with a pleasant nutty flavor. The darker the color, the grassier the flavour....

, protein

Protein

Proteins are biochemical compounds consisting of one or more polypeptides typically folded into a globular or fibrous form, facilitating a biological function. A polypeptide is a single linear polymer chain of amino acids bonded together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of...

, fuel

Fuel

Fuel is any material that stores energy that can later be extracted to perform mechanical work in a controlled manner. Most fuels used by humans undergo combustion, a redox reaction in which a combustible substance releases energy after it ignites and reacts with the oxygen in the air...

 and medicine

Medical cannabis

Medical cannabis refers to the use of parts of the herb cannabis as a physician-recommended form of medicine or herbal therapy, or to synthetic forms of specific cannabinoids such as THC as a physician-recommended form of medicine...

. We are working to end adult cannabis prohibition, allow adults to grow their own and license the legal sale of psychoactive cannabis to adults. We believe that hemp will save the Earth

Earth

Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...

's biosphere

Biosphere

The biosphere is the global sum of all ecosystems. It can also be called the zone of life on Earth, a closed and self-regulating system...

 with the adoption of hemp seed for bio-diesel fuel, which will solve the energy

Energy crisis

An energy crisis is any great bottleneck in the supply of energy resources to an economy. In popular literature though, it often refers to one of the energy sources used at a certain time and place, particularly those that supply national electricity grids or serve as fuel for vehicles...

 and world hunger problems, and stop deforestation

Deforestation

Deforestation is the removal of a forest or stand of trees where the land is thereafter converted to a nonforest use. Examples of deforestation include conversion of forestland to farms, ranches, or urban use....

 when hemp fiber is used for paper

Paper

Paper is a thin material mainly used for writing upon, printing upon, drawing or for packaging. It is produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets....

 and building materials. We support the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act of 2010, to implement this. We shall overcome!"

History

The Portland Hempstalk Festival is an annual, two day event. Hempstalk was first held in Portland, Oregon's Tom McCall Waterfront Park

Tom McCall Waterfront Park

Governor Tom McCall Waterfront Park is a park located on the west bank of the Willamette River in downtown Portland, Oregon. It is , comprising 16 tax lots owned by the City of Portland....

 in downtown Portland in 2005 and 2006, with about 10,000 visitors each of the first two years.

In 2007, nearly 20,000 people attended the third annual Hempstalk festival at Sellwood Riverfront Park

Sellwood Riverfront Park

Sellwood Riverfront Park is a city park of about in southeast Portland, in the U.S. state of Oregon. Located at Southeast Spokane Street and Oaks Parkway, the park has paths, picnic tables, a stage, a boat dock on the Willamette River, restrooms, and a dog off-leash area.Formerly a mill site...

. While organizers insisted smoking would not be tolerated, the smell of marijuana lingered in the air and some festival goers chose to consume various forms of cannabis foods. No festival attendees were arrested. Originally slated for Tom McCall Waterfront Park, the event was temporarily canceled by Portland Parks & Recreation due to "unspecified 'problems' the city encountered with the event in the past two years there." According to the Hempstalk official site, after being denied a permit at Waterfront Park based upon the city's ruling, the previous location was already booked and the City Parks & Recreation Department "refused to issue a permit to use a different park, citing unsubstantiated claims that minors were drinking beer in the park... and widespread marijuana smoking was taking place (not in public view and only by medical marijuana patients)." Hempstalk officials deny these claims. Due to limited space, officials had doubts about hosting the event at Sellwood Riverfront Park in the future.

In 2008, the festival was held in Eastbank Festival Plaza, organized by Paul Stanford of The Hemp and Cannabis Foundation (THCF). In additional to the usual events and activities featured, the two-day event offered educational panels to inform attendants about industrial hemp, the legal use of marijuana, and answer any other questions they may have.

On September 12-13, 2009, the Portland Hempstalk Festival moved to Kelley Point Park

Kelley Point Park

Kelley Point Park is a city park in north Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. Bounded by the Columbia Slough on the south, the Willamette River on the west, and the Columbia River on the north, the park forms the tip of the peninsula at the confluence of the rivers...

, in the far Northwest corner of Portland, Oregon, at the confluence of the Columbia River

Columbia River

The Columbia River is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, flows northwest and then south into the U.S. state of Washington, then turns west to form most of the border between Washington and the state...

 and the Willamette River

Willamette River

The Willamette River is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States...

. 40,000 people attended over two days. Music was performed by Native American

Indigenous peoples of the Americas

The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...

 political activist, poet

Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

 and songwriter

Songwriter

A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...

 John Trudell

John Trudell

John Trudell is a Native American-Mexican author, poet, actor, musician, and former political activist. He was the spokesperson for the United Indians of All Tribes' takeover of Alcatraz beginning in 1969, broadcasting as Radio Free Alcatraz...

 and his band, Bad Dog, Folk Uke (Amy Nelson and Cathy Guthrie, daughters of Willie Nelson

Willie Nelson

Willie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...

 and Arlo Guthrie

Arlo Guthrie

Arlo Davy Guthrie is an American folk singer. Like his father, Woody Guthrie, Arlo often sings songs of protest against social injustice...

), the Herbivores, Rocker T, the Human Revolution, Binghi & the Seventh Seal, State of Jefferson, Marquee, Pass Margo and Tim Pate. Speakers included famed author

Author

An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

 and activist, Jack Herer

Jack Herer

Jack Herer was an American cannabis activist and the author of The Emperor Wears No Clothes, a book which has been used in efforts to decriminalize cannabis.-Biography:...

, making his fifth Hempstalk appearance. Herer had a heart attack and collapsed moments after giving a speech on Saturday, September 12. He was in critical condition in a Portland area hospital for a month and moved to a Eugene, Oregon nursing home in early October 2009 for further recovery.

Other Hempstalk speakers have included National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) founder Keith Stroup

Keith Stroup

Keith Stroup is an attorney and founder of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. After graduating from the University of Illinois in 1965, he enrolled in Georgetown Law School and worked in the office of Illinois Senator Everett Dirksen...

, NORML director Allen St. Pierre

Allen St. Pierre

Allen St. Pierre is the Executive Director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws , a non-profit organization that wishes to remove the criminal penalties for and legalize cannabis. St. Pierre was hired by NORML's Board of Directors in 1991 when he worked as a Communications...

, THCF and CRRH director and author of the Oregon Cannabis Tax Act

Oregon Cannabis Tax Act

The Oregon Cannabis Tax Act is a proposed initiative for the November 2010 Oregon state general election that would permit personal marijuana and hemp cultivation or use without a license and create a commission to regulate the sale of commercial marijuana...

 Paul Stanford, Oregon NORML director Madeline Martinez, Chris Conrad, Mikki Norris, comedian and writer Ngaio Bealum, author Bill Drake, Dr. Tod Mikuriya, Dr. Phillip Leveque, Seattle Hempfest

Seattle Hempfest

Seattle Hempfest is an annual event in Seattle, Washington, the world's largest annual gathering advocating decriminalization of marijuana. Founded in 1991 as the Washington Hemp Expo, a self-described "humble gathering of stoners" attended by only 500 people, and renamed the following year as...

 director Vivian McPeak, and medical marijuana pioneer, Dennis Peron

Dennis Peron

Dennis Peron is an openly gay American medical marijuana and LGBT activist and businessman who was the figurehead for the legality of cannabis throughout the 1990s influencing many in California and thus changing the political debate of marijuana in the United States...

.