What will you be doing at 4:20 p.m. on the weekend of Oct. 7-8? For a
fun time, head to Madison, Wis., for the 36th annual Great Midwest
Marijuana Harvest Festival.

The Harvest Festival has many offerings to inhale, including a party
atmosphere for revelers who come just to have a good time and enjoy the
free concerts. Other festival participants, who consider themselves
more politically active, will enjoy lectures by pro-cannabis activists
and political leaders who support drug policy reform.

Previous Harvest Fests have featured talks by candidates for sheriff,
state representatives, scientists and medical pot users. This year's
festival will feature speeches by activist Jim Miller, whose wife
suffered a long battle with multiple sclerosis, author Gary Stork and
Jacki Rickert, executive director of Is My Medicine Legal Yet?

Regardless of which aspect of the festival you find most potent, you'll
have a good trip because at only two-and-a-half hours from Chicago,
Madison's Harvest Fest is much more accessible than comparable
pot-themed events held in Amsterdam and Canada's British Columbia
province.

Since Madison is home to the University of Wisconsin, one of America's
most progressive universities, it's a natural site to host this '60s
flashback to a freer time where drugs and public assembly merged to
shape the music, style and feel of America's most psychedelic decade.

Start your pot-themed weekend on Friday, Oct. 6, at Cardinal Bar,
located at 418 E. Wilson St. The party - which is sponsored by
Madison NORML ( which stands for the National Organization for the
Reformation of Marijuana Laws ) and Is My Medicine Legal Yet? - goes
from 5 to 8 p.m. and features speakers and food for $10.

The main event is at noon on Saturday, Oct. 7. To get involved - or
just hang out with some buds - head to the Library Mall by Madison's UW
campus for more than six hours of live music with performances by Not
On Mars, Yokanizu Project, Tony Castaneda's Latin Jazz, MOTO and Cosmic
Railroad. Between acts, pro-cannabis speakers will take the stage to
share their views on topics such as medical marijuana,
decriminalization of marijuana and the war on drugs.

Like any good street fest, Harvest Fest features artisan booths selling
all sorts of hemp-themed art, jewelry and products, while food tents
abound to help tie-dye clad festival goers curb the munchies.

Mike Dostalek, 29, of Bensenville, says he plans to stock up on body
lotions, lip balm and clothing made from hemp at the festival.

"I like the natural products for sale there," says Dostalek, who'll be
attending the festival for the second time this year. "I love to wear
hemp because in addition to looking and feeling great, it's great for
the environment."

On Sunday, Oct. 8, return to the Library Mall where the final day of
the fest gets rolling at 1 p.m. At 2 p.m., the festival's parade
begins with a march to the Wisconsin State Capitol for a pro-cannabis
activism rally and more live music, including a performance by Little
Marsh Overflow.

On weekends, free street parking is available throughout town, and all
of the festival events are within walking distance.

Keith Turausky, a 30-year-old writer and philosophy student from
Prospect Heights, considers Madison's Harvest Fest important because it
brings personal freedom issues to the forefront. "Pot smoking is such
a victimless crime that it's crazy for our legal system to spend the
millions of dollars that it spends to prosecute it," he says.

Troy Lamb and Julie Koehler, both of Chicago, have attended the
festival for the past three years, and plan to make 2006 their fourth.
"We try to fill a carload of people every year and make a party of it,"
says Koehler, 26. "This year we're caravanning with four cars and
introducing a lot of new people."

Koehler says she plans to don green glitter, fairy wings and felt
cutouts of pot leaves pinned over her green leotard for the two-day
festival. Lamb, meanwhile, plans to wear a T-shirt he silk-screened to
read, "Marijuana helped my uncle die with dignity."

Lamb, 28, says his uncle came to live with Lamb's family during the
final months of his battle with cancer and used marijuana to stimulate
his appetite, ease his pain and curb nausea. "Medical marijuana gave
him the extra time and quality of life he needed to say goodbye to
everyone and settle his affairs," he says.

"The festival's fun, but it's also important," Koehler says. "We come
to celebrate, but also to show our support for medical pot."

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Where: Madison, Wis.

Events:

Oct. 6: Party at Cardinal Bar, 418 E. Wilson St., 5-8 p.m. $10

Oct. 7: Festival at Library Mall at Lake and State streets, 12-6 p.m.
Free.

Oct. 8: Parade from Library Mall down State Street to the capitol
building, 1 p.m. Free.

Web site: myspace.com/madisonhempfest