For the first time in its seven-year history, The Hemp Hoe Down (HHD) will be a four day event from Thursday May 10th up through Sunday Night May 13th. The HHD will again take place at the Elk View Campground, which is located five miles South of Sturgis, SD, at exit 37 off of Interstate 90, on the North Eastern side of the interstate. The festivities will kick off Thursday with Slip Disc productions’ DJs spinning from 7pm to 4am. Slip Disc Productions was responsible for the popular Badlands Electronic Music Festival in 2002. Several original artists will be performing on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday including Solution, an amazing jam-jazz band from Sioux Falls on Friday, New Primitives, Minneapolis’s award winning reggae band on Saturday, and Mad Hats and Violent Hippie, Spearfish’s best, on Sunday. Music will be stationed under a big top circus tent this year to increase the sound value of the event. Several sustainable workshops will again be offered, including building with cob, offered by Natural Villages, and converting a diesel engine to run on waste vegetable oil. Workshops on Wind and Solar Energy by High Plains Wind Energy will also be offered. In addition we will be offering classes on making bio-diesel, making body salve, and making paper with a blender. Inside the Elk View Campground Pavilion will be offered organic hemp meals from the Organnabis Kitchen, Hemp Beer, and the widest selection of hemp/eco clothing, paper products, accessories and goods in the region. We are also proud to introduce Hemp Milk from Living Harvest. It is sure to be a big hit. Hemp Milk is a great way to take advantage of the superior nutritional value of the hemp seed, including all 10 essential amino acids, and all 4 essential fatty acids. Wind and solar energy green tags from Pine Ridge hemp farmer and former president of the Reservation, Alex White Plume, who will be making his annual appearance and speech on Friday May 11th, will supplement the energy used for this event. In addition, the PBS documentary, “Silent Standing Nation”, on the White Plumes will be shown Friday afternoon and Saturday afternoon. A workshop on how to put up a tipi will be offered Friday around 3 pm. The price is set at $10/night for Thursday, $15 for Friday, $15 for Saturday, and $10 for Sunday. Attendees may purchase a ticket for $35 that is good for all four nights at www.hemphoedown.com. All prices include camping. Tickets can be purchased, and other more detailed information on the workshops, the Frisbee golf tournament, speakers, and links to the band’s music can be obtained at the website www.hemphoedown.com. The tickets are printed on 100% hemp paper. People of all ages are welcome to attend. Kids under 13 are free. The event is indoor/outdoor and will take place rain or shine. Camping is free. Hemp Hoe Down 7 is sponsored by Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps and Global Market. Thursday’s DJ night will include performances from Johnny 000 (Deep, Slip Disc, Rapid City,) Nick Rave (drum’ n’ bass, Slip Disc, RC,) Kung Pow (urban house, Slip Disc, RC,) Mac (drum’ n’ bass, Okizoo, RC,) Tek Steze (tech house, Okizoo, RC,) DJ Solful (drum’ n’ bass, RC,) EASE 95 (new jive, Okizoo, RC,) Chucky (tech house, Mixed Up, RC,) and DJ Manatea (Jungle, DJ4Norml Project, Casper, WY.) Friday will feature music the Javier Trego Trio. Javier has been dubbed ‘little Santana” by his peers in Minneapolis. His guitar renditions are sure to amaze. Tommy ‘the silent’ will also perform. Tommy is a keyboardist for Tone Grown, and Violent Hippie. His solo act on guitar is very mellifluous. He seems to invent new ways to play the guitar. Up first on Friday May 11th is the band Lunar Funk Theory, a funk band from Sioux Falls. The band Solution will complete the night. They are going to play two high-energy jazz like jam sessions to close out the evening. Come and check them out if you like to get down and dance. Saturday will feature music from Juliet and Judah James, a duet from Minneapolis. Each musician will also perform a solo set sometime throughout the weekend. Juliet’s voice is spectacular. She will leave the crowd jubilant with tears in their eyes screaming for freedom. In the early evening Mace, an amazing blues singer from Ohio will perform with Rapid City rockers Tone Grown backing him up. Then Tone Grown will take the stage, with Mace playing base and singing some songs. Expect these sets to outdo anything you have seen Tone Grown perform up to this point. Closing out the night will be Minneapolis’s best reggae band, New Primitives. If you like reggae, then don’t miss this set. Also on Saturday May 11th will be Chris Olsen (keyboards, Boulder, CO,) Dog War (Reggae, RC,) and Governor’s Suite, a jam band from Sioux Falls. Sunday, Mother’s Day, will feature Spearfish bands Violent Hippie and Mad Hats. Violent Hippie is Chris Cady’s new punk rock creation. Mad Hats are a rock band that plays a wide blend of material. Both bands will play together in-between their sets. Also featured will be the Sequoia Trio, which is made up of Sequoia, Tone Grown’s Todd Rigione on bass, and Jon Margolis on drums. Also performing is Lange Termes, a folk singer from Bozeman, MT, who is son of legendary artist Dick Termes, and Free World Revolution, an acoustic band from Sioux Falls. Sunday’s festivities will be aimed at celebrating Mother Earth. Much more musical entertainment will be featured at the HHD. Other acts will be announced as they are confirmed. Check out Hemphoedown.com to hear the bands and to see the updated set list. From 1 to 5 pm on Saturday there will be a Frisbee Golf Tournament. The tournament is free and open to all attendees. Participants must bring their own discs. The nets will be set up all four day for practice and for fun. Plenty of hemp gear, including t-shirts, hats, caps, bags, health bars, fuel bars, candles, lip balm, lotion, salve, socks, boxers, panties, rolling papers, soaps, belts, dog leashes, prayer flags, journals, wallets, and long sleeve t-shirts will be for sale at the Hempire vending station. Participants are encouraged to bring camping gear, water, and warm clothes for the evening, with a big smile eager to learn about nature’s most useful crop. All outside alcohol must be kept away from the main building. Illegal drugs are not allowed. All dogs must be leashed. No glass containers are allowed. Please be respectful. For more information, contact Jeremy Briggs of Keefe Green Productions at 605-484-1806 or [email protected].