The 38th annual Midwest Marijuana Harvest Festival attracted a large crowd this past weekend in downtown Madison to celebrate a common cause: their support for the legalization of marijuana.

The festival began Friday at the Cardinal Bar with a medical cannabis benefit and continued through Sunday in Library Mall, with speakers, vendors, informational tables, displays and food carts. The festival ended Sunday with a parade to the Capitol, and a rally and concert at the Capitol Square.

This year’s theme was “Vote,” so organizers and attendees recognized the importance of getting one’s voice heard. Agua Das, of Hemp Sources, the inventor of hemp ice cream and a six-time attendee of the festival, said he thinks “hemp makes sense” and supports legalization.

“I’m pro-hemp and I vote … I’m looking for candidates who will support the hemp agriculture bill,” Das said.

Eric Miller, an advocate for the Students for Nader campaign, promotes Nader because he supports legalizing hemp. Miller believes that hemp makes economic sense because it is an easy plant to grow and is good for the environment.

Miller said there are consequences of marijuana use that directly tie to our governmental policies.

“There are more people in jail in Dane County than any other county in Wisconsin,” Miller said. “There are more people in jail in this country than any other industrialized nation, and that is not acceptable.”

Doug Daudensdeck, a volunteer from Minnesota’s national organization that works with marijuana laws, set up a stand at the festival passing out informational packets, buttons and signs promoting marijuana education.

“[Marijuana] should be legal because it is a freedom of choice,” he said.

Madison Police Department officers patrolling the area said the festival was a peaceful and positive gathering; as long as the attendees were not causing problems, they had bigger things to worry about.

Das explained the event perfectly. “This festival is not about dope, it is about hope.”