Hemp Fest a learning experience? by Florangela Davila Seattle Times
staff reporter

It's been two years since the last Hemp Fest rolled our way. And depending
on how you feel about the plant and its psychoactive qualities, you either
welcome its return or hope a torrent of rain drowns out the anticipated
crowd of thousands expected today at Seattle's Myrtle Edwards Park.

Hemp Fest still evokes the notion that the event is solely one big pot
party, an invitation to light up and inhale.

But the event, organizers say, has always been about drawing people
together so they can learn about issues.

Which is why Yvonne Snyder, a member of Washington Citizens for Hemp
Reform, found herself in a dark, crowded dance club on Friday night
explaining the resistance that hemp fabric has to mildew, while behind her
a bunch of guys were having blue lip liner applied to their mouths.

"Hemp is an incredible industrial product," Snyder said, "as food, fuel or
fiber." Hemp oil has more essential fatty acids than flaxseed oil, she
said. There's its medicinal use, she pointed out. And then there's the
fabric.

This year's Hemp Fest features events over four days, culminating in
today's rally from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. There were symposiums held on Capitol
Hill. A film screening in Belltown. And on Friday night, there was the
1997 Hemp Fest Fashion Show at the Catwalk Club in Pioneer Square.

The event, explained Melissa McKelvey, one of two women who produced the
show, was the biggest of its kind ever held in the city. It featured 18
designers, 71 models, and one runway lit with tiny, white lights.

McKelvey, 24, who grew up in Seattle and resides here now, lived in Hawaii
a few years ago. That's where she said she was introduced to hemp as a
textile. She has wanted to promote the product ever since.

When she returned to Seattle, she worked with a friend at a hemp store in
the University District. McKelvey happened to notice that most of the hemp
clothing available wasn't all that attractive. "Really basic. Kind of
burlappy." Designs like these, she figured, would not do much to get
people excited.

She has helped out with Hemp Fest in previous years. This year, she wanted
to put on a fashion show and found Maria Carr, an expert in such events,
to help her organize one.

So strongly does she feel about promoting hemp that McKelvey, using
donations and a chunk of her money, purchased the hempsilk blend for the
clothing designers. This isn't usually done.

Hemp can run about $16 a yard, McKelvey said. She didn't want the
designers to worry about the cost but, rather, to focus on creating the
clothes.

The hemp clothes Friday night looked like linen and fine silk and could be
worn by funky preschool teachers, skateboarders or women who want long,
skinny and tight. The clothing, dyed eggplant, teal and persimmon, was
perky and at times, deliberately scarylooking (this was, in the program,
described as Armageddon hemp fashion.)

Friday's crowd, several hundred strong, looked like people who pay
attention to what should and should not be worn. The ponytailed guy in the
tiedyed shirt, who stood by the bar, really stood out.

Hemp clothing, McKelvey said, needn't make you look "like a paper sack."
She convinced many people of this, including one woman in the third row
near the discjockey booth.

A Kris Berg dress in orange strutted out. "Can't you just see yourself in
that on the island of Jamaica?" she said. She applauded enthusiastically
and then looked down at her program. Designs featured in the show will be
displayed through next month at Kakajam, 2205 N.E. 65th St. Hemp Fest
events, including today's rally, will be broadcast on the Internet:
http://www.seattlehempfest.com

Florangela Davila's phone message number is 2064642916. Her email
address is: fdavnew@seatimes.com