Going to a Big Marijuana Festival: Nimbin's Mardi Grass

Yep, I went a big annual weed event..

But before I describe all of the wonderfully interesting things about the fun and hippie-filled festival, let me explain how I happened to end up there.

Well, I was trapped in a small desert town in the middle of the Outback for a few days..

It sucked.  I was in the middle of nowhere and a bus ticket and plane ticket to Anywhere was really expensive.  I tried to find a rideshare, which is how I got there.

And I tried to hitchhike out, I had a sign and everything, but many people drove by while laughing at me.  I stood there for hours but then gave up. Then the next day I tried hitchiking again, but still no luck..  

Then Finally, I was rescued by 3 German guys who I managed to find on Gumtree.com They owned a van which was previously a wicked van rental company van and had Tarzan painted on it..  and they wanted another person to join them and split the cost of petrol. 

"Hey We are going to Nimbin, want to come?"  Yes YES!  I was desperate to go anywhere! 

These 3 Germans were super cheap. They drove about 80 kph or so through the Outback to save money on petrol.  

I've heard before that driving slower saves gas. And in the massive outback, well, there's not much traffic, and it's massive.. 

I used this pic in a previous post but I'm going to use it again to show why most people drive fast to get through the outback..

So we spent the entire day, every day, driving until sunset and then camped at night. And it took about 1 week to get to Nimbin.

Other than some snacks like potato chips, we had only 1 real meal a day. Though I didn't feel as hungry as normal because I was just sitting in van all day. and because it was cheap, we all bought a massive wholesale amount of pasta, tuna, and tomato sauce.. And when I say tomato sauce I mean Ketchup.  

In Australian English, ketchup is called tomato sauce.

So that's what we ate every night for a week.. 

Finally, we arrived in Nimbin.  Nimbin is a small village Obsessed with weed.

I was surprised to learn that they have a public school and also a skate park.

And a hemp embassy, whatever that means? Inside there's a store and sells stuff made from hemp, like clothes. 

And this is the museum.. It's free but accepts donations.

and here's some art from a store..

 We got there a few days before the festival. For anyone who likes weed, Nimbin is a good place anytime.. Usually there are not too many people there, but when the festival time came, I was surrounded by thousands of hippies.

As you already know if you read this post's title, the name of the festival is Mardi Grass.. not Mardi Gra, but Grass.  Haha, get it? hehehe

 Even though Everyone in Nimbin does it All the time, marijuana is illegal in Australia!!

Though, Nimbin is pretty well understood as the weed capitol of Australia. But this festival is Legal; it's actually a political protest kind of thing. A Law reform rally.  Everyone is screaming "Free the Weed!" and "Change the Law!"

This is an annual event in May and they parade a giant inflatable "joint"

There were a couple of times that they threw hundreds of joints out into the crowd.

you could buy a small giant inflatable joint like the one shown in this pic.

These girls were called ganja fairies

At night, bands would always play songs about marijuana here..

I thought the sign next to stage was hilarious.. but let me zoom in on the pic so you can see it better..  You can also click the pic to make bigger, by the way.

It says, Legalise, Yes we Can-nabis 

A lot of things about that festival was hilarious.. Like some of the festival volunteers had Uniforms that looked exactly like a police uniform except where it usually says Police, It reads Polite. 

I apoligize that I didn't really get as many pictures as I should have.. I was, er, distracted.

Anyway, they also had something called, Hemp Olympics.  With competitions like a joint rolling contest, Bong toss, and even a tug and war between a Police Officer and a Polite Officer. 

So, it was a lot of fun.  But now I'd like to take a look at another more lawful perspective. Like I said, Marijuana is illegal in Australia. 

So I was surprised to see so many stoned in public and smoking out in open sight.

Which, makes me question the amount of law enforcement. 

On the road leading to Nimbin, cops pull over cars to search them. Especially around Mardi Grass time. But once inside Nimbin, It seems too easy. 

During the festival cops walked up and down the street sometimes. But when the parade was going on and joints were being thrown out to the crowd, no cops in sight. 

Many backpackers travel to Nimbin for it's always ready and available supply.  When you start walking down the main street, it won't be long before someone asks you if you want to buy something.

Unless there are any cops around, then every dealer is skillfully out of sight.

 Publicly, Nimbin supports Cannabis and it's shops sell many Marijuana paraphernalia.. shirts, art, a cookbook on how to get baked by baking, bongs, etc.  But on the street, there are harder drugs that also get sold.. 

Though you meet a lot of cool and interesting people in Nimbin, you will also see a few that are a bit mentally damaged.

Here's a news story, if you want to read about police-struggling-to-smash-nimbins-street-trade.

It reads "Lifes a bitch, then you die! So if in life you don't succeed, Fuck it all, and smoke some weed!"

I'd like to share something my mom said, Cope with hope, not dope.