In 1990, Marie Mills and several other women established the Hemp Awareness Group. Concentrating on culture and the arts the Humboldt Hemp Fest is recognized as the first cannabis festival. Although the founding of the Humboldt Hemp Fest was centered around the liberation of cannabis, it did not consider the potential effects of legalization on the local community of Garberville, a small town that served as the center of Southern Humboldt County in the heyday of cannabis, and that continues to offer a long-term venue for the arts, education, and community service.

All original 11×17 hand-drawn posters in this collection are held by the Humboldt Area Peoples Archive.

Scan specifications: scanned in 2024 with a Sharp MX-3051 scanner; Photoshop 2024; 600 dpi; 8-bit colo