Moscow Hemp Fest will celebrate its 21st year at East City Park with performances from local and regional bands, informational speakers, hemp vendors and food on Saturday during University of Idaho’s Mom’s Weekend.

Main event organizer Arlene Falcon has been working at the fest since 2006.

“[The Hemp Fest] looks like your typical craft fest with different vendors, but we try to have people with hemp products,” she said.

In 1996, UI students who were passionate about hemp and wanted to create a festival for moms to attend during Mom’s Weekend created the Moscow Hemp Fest, Falcon said. Since the beginning, the fest has always been held in the same park location but has grown in size.

Alongside hemp-friendly booths, visitors can also peruse local craft and food vendors while listening to speakers and local and regional bands perform all day. Each musical group will play an hour-long set.

The fest focuses on the spread of cannabis and hemp information, Falcon said. Many of the event speakers will be available to answer questions and talk about cannabis with visitors.

“[We aim] to make people realize that this is not just a drug,” she said, “and that there is good medicine involved and a reason why we are fighting for it.”

To further the theme of outreach and education, the event will also host a booth to gather signatures for a petition to legalize medical marijuana in Idaho. Falcon said Idaho was behind on cannabis legislature, another reason the fest is important for the local community.

“At the fest, [speakers from the Boise Hemp Fest] will be talking about what they are doing in Boise to get cannabis issues in front of the legislature,” she said. “We are going strong in Idaho and really working hard on trying to change the law and have an impact on especially reducing the stigma around cannabis.”

The Moscow Hemp Fest will take place from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday at the East City Park in Moscow. The event is free and open to the public.

“With great music and great food,” Falcon said, “it is a nice way to celebrate spring and learn about cannabis- and hemp- related issues.”

Ally Boston is a senior journalistm and media production major from Baltimore. She can be contacted at [email protected].