AMHERST – The annual Extravaganja, billed as a marijuana-freedom festival to raise awareness about support for the drug's legalization, is celebrating double this year to mark the festival's 20th anniversary.



The event sponsored by the University of Massachusetts Cannabis Reform Coalition group will spread over both days this weekend with a dozen bands, vendors and speakers. Alex Delegas, president of the coalition, said they had 75 bands apply to perform.



The group decided to hold the festival for two days because it thought "it would a good way to celebrate (the anniversary)," Delegas said.



The group has been meeting with town officials and Town Manager John P. Musante said outstanding issues have been addressed.



Public Works will provide trash receptacles and recycling containers. Delegas said there will also be places for cigarette butts.



In an email, Police Chief Scott P. Livingstone wrote that "the two day event is happening on a one-year trial basis which will be evaluated based on participant behavior."



"As the event falls on a weekend that we normally have most of the department working anyways, the Saturday event will have no additional burden than it has in previous years," Livingstone wrote.



But he reported they will hire a few more officers on overtime for Sunday afternoon. "Last year's extravaganja was relatively uneventful." He wrote they have been meeting with "organizers since February to make sure this year's event is also a smooth event," Livingstone said.



According to the event website, organizers warn that "smoking cannabis is allowed on and only allowed on the Commons. You can NOT sell weed. Alcohol is prohibited."



According the event's Facebook page, the coalition reported that in "the beginning people were arrested at Extravaganja for smoking. In recent years the police have decided they would rather cooperate with us than have a conflict. It's not officially legal." But according to the site, "police de-prioritize enforcement of smoking laws. We have an agreement with the police; smoking is allowed on the Common. DO NOT antagonize the police. If you blow smoke in a cops face you will be arrested. They are respectful of us and our right to free speech they deserve the same respect."



In 2000, Amherst voters overwhelmingly supported a non-binding referendum calling for state and national officials to lobby for legalizing marijuana and for town police to relax enforcement of the law in the meantime. In 2010, Amherst was one of a handful of communities across the state supporting the legalization of the drug.



According to the group's Facebook page, more than 6,000 reported they will be attending the event, which begins at noon and ends at dusk each day.

UMass Amherst CRC's "Smoke Signals," April 2011