Hundreds gathered on Library Mall this weekend for the Madison chapter of the National Organization to Reform Marijuana Law's 40th annual Great Midwest Marijuana Harvest Festival.
The festival began Friday with musical performances at the Frequency and High Noon Saloon, and continued with several events Sunday on Library Mall.
Sunday's events included speeches, vendors, informational tables and food booths, as well as musical guests Nama Rupa, Rocket-T and Venice Gashouse Trolley.
Later in the afternoon festival attendees marched down State Street to the steps of the capitol to rally for the legalization of marijuana.
""The march will let [politicians] know how we feel,"" said Charmie Gholson, editor of the Midwest Cultivator, a medical marijuana trade journal. Gholson was one of the speakers Sunday advocating for the legalization of marijuana.
NORML is a nonprofit public-interest lobby, which supports the legalization of marijuana.
Speakers at the festival stressed the importance of registering to vote for legislators that support marijuana legalization.
""Politicians no longer have to be afraid of being in favor of drug reform,"" Gholson said.
Gholson also stressed the importance of medical marijuana.
""Marijuana heals people in ways pharmaceutical drugs will kill them,"" Gholson said.
T.A. Sedlak, a writer for magazines such as GROW and Treating Yourself, also spoke Sunday to show his support for the legalization of marijuana.
According to Sedlak it is unfair for people to be put in jail because of their lifestyle.
Within his speech Sedlak said the strict laws against marijuana are driving people out of Wisconsin. If these laws were changed, Sedlak said it would help bring people to the state.
Several vendors set up shop in Library Mall selling merchandise ranging from Bob Marley memorabilia to hemp clothing.
Other booths were purely for informational purposes or for attendees to register to vote in the Nov. 2 elections.
