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celona r a B r i a F e Highlif
Soft Secrets
Highlife Fair Barcelona 2005 Second international edition a great success It was once again a nail biter for the organisers of the second Spanish edition of the renowned Highlife Fair. The Spanish cannabis-loving public this year had already had two other cannabis fairs to deal with, of which one was in Barcelona and the other in Madrid. Would smokers and growers still be up for yet another cannabis fair? Happily, it was very soon evident that the name Highlife is a good indicator of success – and public! Before the fair had even opened its doors there was already a crowd of fans standing outside patiently to be allowed in. And with that the tone was set, because in the days that followed the Spanish public continued to stream in en masse. A report. The rain came down like stair rods from heaven in Barcelona on the first day of the fair. The question was: was this a good thing or a bad thing for the numbers of visitors that could be expected over the coming days? In retrospect this remained something of an open question, since although it was reasonably busy, it was certainly not as busy as during the first day of the first Spanish edition of the fair, last year. But all in all there were still many thousands of visitors wandering about, who especially on the first day had plenty of space. That was not so strange, given that the paths between the stands were considerably wider than they were last year, when the fair was held at a different location. Then it was the glass pyramid of the Fira de Cornella in L’Obregat, and this year it was decided to have the fair at the much larger and more spacious congress centre of La Farga, in the L’Hospitalet suburb. The reason for the change of location was not so much to do with the atmosphere of the place, but for its location: La Farga is one of Barcelona’s best-known congress halls and is easily accessible by car, metro or taxi. Situated in a bustling residential district with many cafés, bars and restaurants, it is furthermore an ideal spot for stand holders to easily escape the hustle and bustle of the fair for a quick snack or a drink outside. Just as last year, a large proportion of visiting numbers were generated by the mainstream media in Spain, who went large right from the start with their reports on the toking Hollanders from Highlife. Not only local radio and TV stations were creating this publicity, but national too: large items were published in such well-known daily newspapers as El Pais and La Vanguardia, while the most important national TV station also put in a good word. Highlife’s Spanish press officer Pedro Galindo had a pretty busy time of it. As Pedro put it: “The demand from pres and media before the fair was pretty overwhelming. Radio stations in particular were commenting non-stop on the character of the fair, and I’m talking about real radio stations at all levels: local, regional and national. There were even programmes where listeners during the show could phone in to give their comments live on air about the coffee shop phenomenon in general, and the Highlife fair in Barcelona in particular. Radio Catalunya, Radio Nacional de Espagna (a radio station run by the government! – ed.) and Radio Zero were a few of the stations who devoted a large slice of their programming to the Highlife fair. Also in terms of television there was a lot of interest.. Local TV stations such as Channel 25 and even the Basque regional TV came and did large reports with their star reporters. Almost
Text and photos: Charlie Stone
Highlife Cup Spain 2005 There was a whole lot of vaporizing going on in Spain…
p 2005: Highlife Super Cu Gold / AK47 x Pot of i as Sant Yerb
What was noticeable was that the mainstream media was mainly producing reports about the cannabis world as a legitimate business sector. without exception the overall tone of the reports was very positive. What was noticeable in all of this was that the mainstream media was mainly producing reports Greenhouse Seed Company (Hollan about the cannabis world as a d) legitimate business sector. That hemp for example could serve as a cheap alternative raw material for many products, is something that in Spain was not widely appreciated. Hemp used in cosmetics products or food also attracted a lot of attention. And of course the media was interested in the medicinal aspect of cannabis use. There were quiet a lot of wheelchair users to be seen among the public, who had come here to seek out information about the medical and therapeutic applications of cannabis. In the media here, people have been very positive about this aspect.
Best Stand:
“That you can also smoke the stuff was something portrayed in a lot of media as the ‘fun side’ of cannabis. But that in Spain there are now more than 400 shops that are involved in one way or another in generating their business from cannabis, that was something that remained the unifying thread through most media reports. The Spanish
troupe udio ’93 dance The Design St show gave a perfect cannabis sector was frequently described as a grown up and legitimate area of business. With an estimated profit
of around 30 million euros per year, that seems to me like a fair comment.” The high point of the fair –for most grow shops who were there at least - was without doubt the announcement of the winners of the second Spanish Highlife Cup. Employees of the Spanish edition of Soft Secrets had, amid the greatest of security, prepared and executed this cup for connoisseurs, with the prize giving up on the main podium as the grand climax. A few shopkeepers leapt in the air with delight, when it was announced that they had won. There is no greater recognition of your workmanship than this. The surprising winner of the Super cup (the winner among winners, the champion of champions) was a variety of hash made with the Iceo-lator, diluted with hash oil.
