At high noon Saturday September 22^nd the annual two day Windy City Lost Harvest Fest of music, speakers, food, vendors and drum circles, the last of Chicago’s three summer counter-culture festivals, started peacefully with some words from organizer Caren Thomas.

By 3:00 there were more than a hundred uniformed Chicago police officers with billy clubs surrounding the perimeter and strolling among the two thousand or so people in Arvey Field.

Shortly after 4:20 the word spread quickly when several undercover officers started arresting people on the north end of the field. A group of hackey sack players were rounded up, cuffed and escorted to the waiting patty wagons. General Patton and his Privates, long time festival favorites were interrupted on stage by Caren to warn of the busts.

For the next four hours the bands kept playing and the police kept busting, in spite of the warnings from the stage. Some were nabbed passing a joint, some for having paraphernalia found after some questionable searches (an officer was seen walking to his car with a bong), and some pot cookies were confiscated. Several festival attendees including Caren’s college-aged son who had no weed or paraphernalia asked the police why they were being arrested. They were told "for acting foolish in the park". They were later charged with resisting arrest. Illinois law states that even questioning an officer "why am I being arrested?" is a third degree misdemeanor with a possible 18-month sentence.

By the end of the night about six thousand people had attended the Fest, forty-six were taken away to jail in handcuffs.

Day two was without arrests. The police were barely visible, only a handful of officers kept watch mostly from a distance. Elvy Musika, one of only seven legal marijuana patients in the US spoke passionately to the cheering crowd and sang a happy reggae song. Sanna, long time Chicago marijuana activist and co-organizer of the Chicago hemp festivals was remembered and missed. He died in August from a heart attack at age 42. Each night ended with a candlelight vigil for Bryan Epis who will be sentenced September 23 in San Francisco for growing one hundred plants for medical use. Sunday was a peaceful day with non-stop music, speakers, food, fun, and the truth about the war on drugs!