Legalize pro-testival is an annual event that takes place in Greece. A diversity of groups , artists , cultural activists gather every year to protest against the Greek drug policy. Legalize protestival is also a mobilization for all those people who faced the state repression because They like to smoke weed. This year the Festival has been divided in two parts (weekends). The first weekend of May the festival took place at Ermou street in the very (center)heart of Athens and the second at the park of environmental awarreness quite close to the city center. The first weekend , before the concerts , the big party and so on, a street parade inspired by reclaim the streets was extending in the big traffics of the city center. A diversity of music like reggae , drum n bass , trance , other accoustic styles , hip hop , punk etc and a lot of people who were willing to stand openly on the the streets for basic legal rights . Therefore the festival was successful , with a lot promises for its development next year. I was not in the organizational collective but I got impressed with the people who joined it as well as the radical overview of the organizers.
I think that even the most suspicious persons about the political background of that festival got satisfied from the participation as well as the collective’s announcement that I put forward bellow.
“This festival is organized from all of us ,for the benefit of all of us and it can take place only through the conscious participation and help from everybody. It is an open public celebration for Freedom of Expression and Freedom of Choice, Self-Determination, Personal and Social Autonomy. There is not any separation between the “organizers”, the “artists”, the cultural activists and all the participators. There is no ticket, no payments or any financial profit , Self-Organization,Voluntary participatory responsibility, Liberation of the Public Space, Anti-commercial logic, Non-Employment, Non-Profit Economics are the values that you find hidden inside the core of Athens Legalize it Festival , in the fight against all prohibitions and against all addictions, in the same way as in all events and festivals of the underground social and political movement in GreeceThis festival fights openly against any kind of drug culture, against the drug-dealers ,against heroin, against cocaine, against ego-trips, against using of multi substances, against junkie attidute and irrational overdose selfish using of substances (whatever kind of them! ) This festival is against stupefaction, freak-out and self-delusion Freedom, Love,Friendship, Music,Travelling, Celebrations,Existential experience of collective Joy,The Dreaming, Creativity, Opening of Consciousness Could never surrender to jailers, Judges, psychiatrists, policemen Or drug-dealers It is an obligation of all of us. This gathering to be a lesson From all of to all of us, An experience that can make us better people an empowering experience a gathering of awareness. This festival is organized against all prohibitions And against all addictions!”
refer links
:
www.iliosporoi.net
www.myspace.com/iliosporoi
www.voidnetwork.blogspot.com
www.elefsyna.org
www.ecogreens.gr
www.neoiprasinoi.blogspot.com
http://ashinartfriends.blogspot.com
http://naturalhighfamily.blogspot.com/
For all info about the festival:
www.legaliseprotestival.blogspot.com 
The demos were everywhere, from London to Odessa :) The Austrians were clever to make it on the Europe day (May 9). The Budapest demo was rather anotehr relaxing concert/weekend on Margit island, but can you imagine cannabis as a non-relaxing stuff :P
ReplyDeleteThe concert grounds were surrounded by random policemen with dogs, but ppl managed to smoke... guess what! http://picasaweb.google.com/indymediacalling/MargitSzigetCannabisDemo#