We received this letter over the weekend:

Dearest Darling Hempfest-

We love your event and we've been supporters/attendees for the past several years.

We could not even enter Hempfest on Saturday 08/20/10. We walked for 8 blocks. When we finally got to the actual line, we were shocked at the thousands of people in front of us. We were told by people who abandoned the line that they had waited over 45min and only got half-way through.

We realized that if the line to get in was an hour and a half long, how much of a clusterfuck would it be inside? We turned ourselves around and left. Just getting in and out of Seattle took us a good 3hours - lots of gridlock fun.

How do you fix something like this? The eight of us and all of the other disappointed potential attendees will not return unless changes are made. Which makes us not care at all if this event is the last Hempfest in Seattle.

We knew there was a north entrance, but there were rumors that the line was just as long. Have you ever waited in line at a grocery store for 10min, changed to a shorter line, and waited 3 times as long as you should have for service. We didn't want to deal with the unknown because we were totally burnt out.

The letter (signed by "Lisa, Josh, Julie, Derek, Leslie, Thomas, Kayla, Austin") continues after the jump, suggesting eight ways the event could fix this problem, but there's only one that seems to really make sense: "Move The Venue!"

Check out this photo to the right of the line to get in to Myrtle Edwards Park—it appears to be four blocks long. The line stretches about a block down Western, a block down Broad, over the rail tracks, and down through the Olympic Sculpture Park about two blocks.

There aren't enough entrances to get in Hempfest (only two). There isn't enough room inside for Hempfest. The city refuses to let Hempfest add a third day to disperse the attendance. Regardless of your personal feelings about Hempfest—its message, strategy, or kernel political ambitions—people who want to participate in a political event (political the same way, say gay pride is political) shouldn't be turned away for lack of room on public property.

So what to do?

Move to Seattle Center. It's made for festivals this big. It has 17 acres of open space (Myrtle Edwards has only 4.8 acres, and Elliott Bay Park to the north has 11 acres, but Hempfest can't use a lot of that acreage because only a portion of the northern park is available and much of the venue is only about 100 feet wide). Seattle Center has lots of entrances, paved paths, electricity, built-in shitters... already there. Hempfest would have to pay a rental fee to use the space (money it could save from paying for porta-potties and generators, etc.). And the city would have to waive a rule that Hempfest pay for special Seattle Center labor, because a political event can't necessarily afford or be expected to pay government staff. The city should allow the all-volunteer force that's been running the event for 19 years in various parks to do it in Seattle Center (which is public property that functions as a park). More important, there's nowhere else for Hempfest to go. The city should allow it. Hempfest should demand it. And Lisa, Josh, Julie, Derek, Leslie, Thomas, Kayla, and Austin should ask the city for it.

If Seattle Hempfest does manage to come back next year, here are our suggestions:

1. Notify attendees of potential overwhelming crowds and entrance/exit queues and delays - give us a clue about coming early to avoid extremely long wait times.

2. Find a way to open a third entrance/exit.

3. Reserve a remote parking lot and hire a shuttle service. We will pay for this. We took advantage of the Seafair shuttle and it was a great experience.

4. Post a link showing local parking lots near the entrances - private and public. It is not easy for many of us to take a bus or bike ride. We would have to take several transfers on the the Fabulous Seattle/Sound Metro System and still have to walk a distance to the gate and hope the return busses were not overfilled. We carpooled instead and parked 8 blocks or so away (lot by Elephant Car Wash, $10). We had a 56year old friend with us, and she barely made it back up the hills when we evacuated event area.

5. Charge admission! Just charge that $10 "donation". We always pay, and so will anyone else who really wants to be there. (It worked for Bumbershoot - look at their turnouts.)

6. Limit the underage kids (under 18yrs). This is basically a political rally. These kids cannot vote, do not vote, and probably won't complete a ballot for another 10 years - most do not have faith in the voting process. You can Never count on the Youth vote, so why are you accommodating them and shutting the rest of us out? They are clogging the park just to smoke out away from their parents and not get busted. I have kids, 19, 20 & 25. I love teenagers, but they are not listening to your speaches - they are too stoned to care.

7. Charge admission!! (Sorry to Repeat.) This will reduce the lines, allow more room for Registered Voters, and help pay for better security and logistics. An overwhelmed Yellow-Jacket Security lady got in my face and yelled at me for jay walking on Western, near Broad. This is where everyone was crossing the street to stay in the queue. I know that she was probably overwhelmed, which was the event organizers' fault. But she brought me down so hard that I began having doubts about going forward with this ordeal.

8. Move The Venue! The long, narrow waterfront park area is an accident waiting to happen. There is no way that everyone could get out of there safely if there was a panicking event. Move it to Kent or Monroe or bumfuck anywhere!

We'll come back to participate if you make some of these improvements.

Most sincerely,
Lisa, Josh, Julie, Derek, Leslie, Thomas, Kayla, Austin