On September 22, the official first day of Fall, the fourth annual Entheofest will take place on the University of Michigan diag on the steps of the Hatcher Library.
Entheofest is a free speech event honoring September’s Entheogenic Plants and Fungi Awareness Month and is a way to discuss the legalization of psychedelic plants. This year’s event will feature live performances, speakers and pre-event activities.
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Hosted by U-M’s Student Association for Psychedelic Studies (SAPS): The event occupies a similar basis as Ann Arbor’s Hash Bash. However, instead of celebrating all things marijuana, the yearly event encourages all things regarding entheogenic plants and fungi: crafting an event that’s part educational, part protest, entertainment and health conscious.
Emily Berriman, President of SAPS, said a goal for this event is to bring forth a continued fight against the war on drugs and those prosecuted on drug-related charges related to entheogenic plants.
“I appreciate that this event holds space for positives,” Berriman said. “We are celebrating the decriminalization of entheogenic plants in Ann Arbor, but also, we are explaining that you need to be careful. You need to be safe and know if you might be someone who should not take these things.”
Berriman said she worked with the University to ensure access to the campus location, which also requires no selling of entheogenic substances.
The event will run from 1:11-4:20 p.m. to “honor Mother Earth’s sacred plant medicines.” The event will feature pre-festivities, beginning at 10 a.m. with activities like morning Yoga, led by Ann Arbor’s Red Yoga, and a sound bath at 11:30 a.m., where participants enjoy a meditative experience bathed in sound waves.
Entheofest Organizer Jim Salame, who also worked on the previous planning committees for Hash Bash, said one of the goals of this event is always to educate and eliminate any stigmas surrounding the drug.
“We have people that are speaking to the truths of these medicines,” Salame said. “We will have avenues to give people any help they need with harm reduction groups like the Lookout Project, Decriminalized Nature and Michigan Psychedelic Society. These groups support our cognitive liberties to use these substances and help us facilitate.”
Salame is also a board member of Decriminalize Nature Michigan, a community group that works through political and community organizing and advocacy to decriminalize psychedelics. He said this event is an honor and notes its goal to decriminalize the drugs throughout the state.
“It’s a meeting of people who are interested in learning about things like mushrooms and ayahuasca,” Salame said. “In our culture, we don’t see a lot of it (psychedelics) because it is hidden and criminalized.”
This event is also the fourth anniversary of Ann Arbor’s decision to declare the use, growth, possession and distribution of natural psychedelics to be “the lowest law enforcement priority for the City.”
City Council members unanimously approved decriminalizing psychedelics, citing the potential mental and physical health benefits.
Ann Arbor, along with Detroit, Hazel Park and Ferndale, are the only cities across the state to decriminalize psychedelics.
“People have a misconception about Entheofest, that we are going to do a ton of drugs,” Berriman said. “It is about coming together as a community for the potential of this medicine and keep pushing to make it accessible and safe for everyone.”
According to the event website, performances for the afternoon event will feature Deadicated, a tribute to the iconic rock band Grateful Dead and their greatest hits. Along with the rock band, this event will also feature more than 15 speakers, including activists and elected officials such as Senator Jeff Irwin, Alyshia Dyer and keynote speaker Dr. George A. Mashour, a Professor of Anesthesiology and Pharmacology, and Founding Director of the Michigan Psychedelic Center.
Following the event, there will be an afterparty taking place at the Ann Arbor nightclub Rabbit Hole, beginning at 4:20 p.m.
Antonio Cooper is a freelance journalist from Detroit, Michigan. His coverage of music festivals and interviews with local celebrities appeared in The E-Current Magazine, The Detroit Metro Times, XXL Magazine, RichMagDigital, The Ann Arbor Observer, and Pop Magazine.
