Durham City Cannabis club’s last outdoor, public protest-ival events “All Out August” took place at the weekend. This was the last in the clubs current series of protest events to highlight that mass public consumption of cannabis doesn’t lead to antisocial behaviour.

All Out August kicked off at high noon in the usual location of Hemp Gardens with glorious sunshine and the majority of the stalls set up with others arriving later as the afternoon unfolded.

There was as always live music with the sound system once again kindly being provided by a friend of the club for the All Out August event.

This allowed for musical performances from “Dave the dealer” himself, Keith Hudson who once again entertained the gathered crowds with his lyrical stories, as well as local busking legend Danny Buzzin who delighted the masses with his unique styling and original versions of classic hits.

Newcastle neurologist Mike Barnes who’d previously spoken at Durham 420 also attended All Out August and after briefly speaking joined me and Feed the Birds’ Trev Coleman to debate Schizophrenia, mental health, addiction and many other related areas.

This final event was one of the most successful events DCCC has had to date, attracting an estimated 300+ guests over the course of the day.

We were joined by attendees from as far a field as Spain, London, and Scotland.

Upon arrival, the site was cleaned up as some local students had seemingly enjoyed an evening of partying leaving an excessive amount of rubbish, beer cans, bottles and food packaging a metre from the bin.

After the event, the grounds were once again left meticulously clean notifying Durham County Council to collect the rubbish.

Although we will not be doing any more outdoor events at Hemp Gardens this year doesn’t mean we’ll not be hosting more events. DCCC will be hosting non-consumption evening events over the Autumn and winter including film screenings and debate nights.

The club will also be hosting a ticketed “Halloweed” event on private land to help raise funds for the suicide prevention charities Samaritans and Campaign against living miserably (Calm) with local sound systems, DJ’s and musicians as well as a selection of varying stalls from around the UK, we’re also looking at a new years eve party.

You can keep up to date with all future events by following DCCC’s social media.

It has been both rather laborious and highly rewarding to organise and host All Out August and the previous events such as June Bloom, July High etc. Now I am glad to be taking a break from the stress that comes with hosting these events to work on launching the website, opening memberships and setting up the shop.

Thank you to everyone that has made these events such a great success.

SimpaDCCC