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UK Manchester: Cannabis festival 420: Hundreds expected at event taking place in Platt Fields Park - latest updates Simon Coyle Manchester Evening News Sunday 19 Apr 2015 An annual festival celebrating cannabis is taking place in a Manchester park today. Hundreds of people are expected to attend the ‘420’ event at Platt Fields Park in Fallowfield - as part of a series of worldwide events which campaign for the legalisation of marijuana. Around 500 people went to the festival last year - with police on patrol making no arrests despite participants openly smoking cannabis. The Platt Fields Park event is organised by Manchester pro-cannabis groups Mannijuana and the Greater Manchester Cannabis Club. Officers have warned they would continue to take a dim view of anyone taking drugs at this year’s event. We will have updates and pictures from the event taking place this afternoon. The event’s Facebook page reads: “This will be our fifth annual gathering so we plan to make it one to remember. “For those who haven’t been there’s going to be good tunes, good food, good company, games and activities, face painting, freebies, talks stalls and information all in the name of celebrating the many aspects of cannabis culture. “Bring friends, family, pets, games, instruments, food and drink and anything else you might fancy for a day in the park. “We want to keep the park as we found it, so try and bring a couple of bin bags with you to make things easier.” The phrase 420 - pronounced ‘four twenty’ – has become a well-known term in cannabis culture after a group of pot-smoking students in California, known as the Waldos, coined it while searching for an abandoned crop of marijuana in 1971. An international day of pro-cannabis events is now held every year on April 20 as a nod to the term. The first year of the festival was marked in Manchester with an event in the city centre that was quickly dispersed by police. For the past four years, the event has moved to Platt Fields Park because it is regarded as a more low-key location in the heart of south Manchester’s student land. Police officers have warned they would continue to take a dim view of anyone taking drugs at this year’s event. Speaking ahead of the Sunday afternoon event, Chief Inspector Arif Nawaz said: “Greater Manchester Police have not received any official notification of a planned event at Platt fields Park on Sunday, April 19. “We are aware that an event may take place on this date. GMP is trying to identify an organiser in order to start discussions and ensure there is minimal disruption or impact on the local community. “Officers will be patrolling the area in conjunction with officials from the park and anyone seen to be actively breaking the law, will be dealt with in an appropriate and proportionate manner. “There was no disorder at a similar event last year and verbal warnings were given to those who were seen smoking cannabis in front of the general public.” Reporter Charlotte Dobson is at Plat Fields Park where the festival is just getting under way. This year’s event in Manchester is actually being held on April 19 and will start at 1pm. It will include talks from people including Kieran Turner-Dave, the Green candidate for Manchester Central, who will be speaking about the party’s policies on cannabis legalisation. Police were also in attendance but made no arrests despite participants openly smoking the drug. One of the 420 organisers said: "The whole idea is to celebrate weed. It's not about shoving it in people's faces. It's about enjoying it. "Everyone's tired of seeing people criminalised for smoking weed. We want to show the public that it's not harmful." One man, who didn't want to be named, said: "I think it's shocking that if you want to self-medicate with marijuana, you're a criminal." We are ending the updates here and will have a full report from today's festival online later this evening. http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/cannabis-festival-420-hundreds-expected-9075163
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