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420 Season Officially Starts This Week With Hash Bash

420 Season Officially Starts This Week With Hash Bash

Culture

420 Season Officially Starts This Week With Hash Bash

Whoever said “April is the cruelest month” definitely never spent it in Ann Arbor, the city where 420 season officially starts. It all begins this weekend at Hash Bash 2017. The famous weed festival has been kicking off the 420 season for an impressive 46 years, and this year’s party should be the dopest one yet.

Hash Bash: Jumpstarting 420 Season

420 Season Officially Starts This Week With Hash BashHash Bash first started on April 1, 1972. It initially began in response to the arrest of a local activist named John Sinclair, who was arrested for possessing two joints. The event was a huge success and quickly expanded to become a protest against cannabis prohibition more generally.

The event was a huge success and quickly expanded to become a protest against cannabis prohibition more generally.

In fact, since 1972, Hash Bash has grown into one of the most popular cannabis traditions in the world. It ranks right up there with other big-time weed festivals like Seattle Hempfest and Spannabis.

At its core, Hash Bash still retains its focus on protesting anti-weed laws. But it’s the best kind of protest. It’s full of fun, music, art, and fantastic food. Hash Bash is civil disobedience in the form of celebration.

The heart of the entire festival is a massive smoke sesh right in the middle of the University of Michigan. Every year on the first Saturday in April, cannabis fans meet up at “The Diag,” the campus’s main open space. At “high” noon, it’s on. Everyone sparks up, and soon The Diag is buried in a cloud of smoke.

What To Expect At Hash Bash 2017

420 Season Officially Starts This Week With Hash Bash

Hash Bash has grown so much in recent years that it now incorporates two events. The first Hash Bash, which takes place on campus, and the Monroe Street Fair, which takes place off campus.

The entire affair now bills itself as “the largest pro-cannabis festival east of the Mississippi.”

On the heels of last year’s successful event, this year’s festival is looking cooler than ever. Here’s what you can expect this weekend:

  • Hash Bash 2017 will launch the first-ever Hash Bash Cup, which starts on Friday, March 31. It includes vendors, lessons on growing weed, cannabis companies, tons of live musical performances, and other weed-themed shenanigans.
  • On Saturday, the classic Hash Bash smoke-up will take place at noon. This is still what Hash Bash is all about.
  • After everyone’s good and blazed, the festivities spill out into the Monroe Stree Fair. More vendors, food, art, and musical performances. The fair will last well into Saturday night.
  • Sunday, April 2 is the Medical Cannabis & Professional Athletes conference. The event will feature former NHL player Darren McCarty, former NFL star Eugene Monroe, and NBA legend Cliff Robinson.
  • In addition to those athletes, celebrities like Tommy Chong will be performing and speaking. Expect to hear a lot of folks pushing for legalization in 2018.

It’s Not Just About Partying

420 Season Officially Starts This Week With Hash Bash

Hash Bash hasn’t only made a big impact as a party. It’s also helped change local cannabis laws. While Michigan allows medical marijuana, recreational is still illegal. And smoking in public is not advisable.

However, thanks to Hash Bash, Michigan has some of the smallest penalties in the country for getting busted with weed. Cannabis laws are especially loose in the city of Ann Arbor. Again, that has a lot to do with Hash Bash.

All of this means that if police catch you partaking in the festivities this weekend, you’re only looking at a civil infraction ticket. Including court costs, a weed ticket will only cost you $55.

The Final Hit

Once an underground, counter-cultural holiday, today 420 is spilling over into the entire month of April. If you want to do 420 season right, Hash Bash is the ultimate destination. And since the cost of attending Hash Bash is zero you don’t have a lot to worry about. Even if you happen to get a ticket, consider it the cost of admission and blaze on.

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