MASSIVE FRIENDLY EVENTS Planning a Crowd Friendly Mardi Grass all to all those who want to walk the path of peace and creativity and end the War on Drugs. Let’s work together to make the 1999 Nimbin “Let It Grow” Mardi Grass and Cannabis Law Reform Rally a joyful, artful and safe and a powerful, media effective call for cannabis law reform in NSW. Let’s send a clear, people power message to the NSW Drug Summit that will follow the week after. Let thousands of ordinary people be seen parading and dancing for freedom from the injustice of these bad laws. Let it be beautiful. Nimbin HEMP has appointed Graeme Dunstan as “Crowd Controller” of the 1999 Nimbin Mardi Grass with responsibility for overall crowd management of the event. Graeme, a cultural organiser and festival maker for over 25 years, was responsible for managing the Keeping Nimbin Nearly Normal community policing project which drew up and implemented the successful crowd friendly, crowd management of last year’s Mardi Grass. “A happy crowd is a manageable crowd”, said Graeme. ‘Like last year we will be working to make the event both a beautiful and crowd pleasing celebration of the hemp harvest and also a clarion call for cannabis law reform.” “Like last year we are expecting a crowd of up to 10,000 and national and international media attention”, he said. “Together with the Nimbin Police, we are taking a harm minimisation approach and working with the Lismore City Council officers to plan and ensure that the impacts of the event on the non participating residents of the village are minimised.” During Mardi Grass the organisers will be working closely with Radio Nimbin, which expects to be broadcasting during this time. This means that residents and visitors approaching the event will be able to tune in and get up to date information about the program, traffic, parking conditions and so on. The Mardi Grass will be preceded by a two day voluntary crowd managers training session in Nimbin Hall on the weekend of 23 & 24 April. Sgt Neville Plush and Graeme Dunstan will be leading the training and anyone and everyone (and especially Nimbin residents) wanting to help out with the crowd management is welcome to participate. Fifteen undergraduates from the criminology course at Bond University have already given notice that they will be participating in the training and helping out with the crowd management as a practical experience in community policing. They will be receiving course credits based on their
written reports of the experience. Further Information:
Graeme Dunstan 02 6689 1842/0412 608 373
Snr Sgt Neville Plush, Nimbin Police 02 6689 1244
Professor Robyn Lincoln Bond University 02 5595 1124
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