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Hanfparade (Hemp Parade) - Berlin Hotels .com

More than 50,000 people flood the streets of Berlin each year for Berlin's annual Hanfparade, or Hemp Parade. Activist-oriented activities range from live music and unique vendors' booths to speeches about hemp uses, benefits, and personal freedoms. Though this is a relatively new addition to Berlin's lively festival culture, it has proven to be quite popular and is continuing to evolve.

Beginning in the Kreuzberg district where the city's Hemp Museum resides, the parade route has expanded to encompass parliament and government headquarters, where cannabis campaigners give speeches and encourage dialogue with local politicians. The parade terminates in the district, where national and international musicians entertain the crowd on one stage, and a nearby "speaker's corner" gives proponents and critics of relaxed cannabis-related legislation an opportunity to express their views.

The party continues into the evening in front of the Roten Rathaus, where artists and lefty politicians dance and mingle, while a nearby "Market of Possibilities" tempts paraders with everything from hemp pants to hemp ice cream. The parade and following demonstration have always been lively but peaceful, in part because Berlin police rarely issue citations for controlled substances infractions.

URL: http://www.hanfparade.de