Once upon a time
Before 2019, hemp-related dialogues largely existed in silos and were rarely part of public discourse in urban communities. Yet in many rural villages, hemp has long been a way of life, a traditional crop used for food, feed, fiber, and fabric, deeply embedded in everyday practices and local knowledge.
The idea for the World Hemp Festival (WHF) began in the Nordics, inspired by the Nordic innovation ecosystem and the living heritage of the Himalayas. Over recent decades, the Nordic countries have emerged as global pioneers in sustainability and wellbeing, demonstrating models that deliver tangible benefits for both people and the planet. Within this context, hemp has naturally re-emerged as a powerful ally; valued for its versatility and its potential to redefine sustainable living and holistic health.
Meanwhile, in the Himalayan region, hemp has remained integral to daily life and cultural heritage for centuries, supporting nutrition, textiles, livelihoods, and ecological balance. This contrast, modern innovation in the Nordics and uninterrupted tradition in the Himalayas forms the foundation of the World Hemp Festival.
The goal of WHF is to honor this enduring heritage while exploring future possibilities, drawing inspiration from ancient wisdom such as Atharva Veda 11.6.15 alongside contemporary, cutting-edge innovations from around the world.
From this convergence, the vision of the World Hemp Festival has evolved: to connect heritage and innovation, and to promote hemp’s sustainability and wellbeing applications by uniting timeless knowledge with modern solutions.
The World Hemp Festival is envisioned to be observed during culturally significant periods associated with cannabis heritage—Maha Shivaratri and Holi—creating a meaningful platform where tradition, science, culture, and innovation come together.
About 20 individuals from diverse backgrounds met at the Samriddhi Foundation in Nepal to discuss hemp. After these meetings, our founder and a few others teamed up voluntarily to take the conversation further. They organized an event named HempHangout (भाङ मेला) in the garden of 'Ageno: The Hestia'. The logistics and program design were co-created with StoryCycle.
HempHangout (भाङ मेला) combined an "Unconference" and a fair to raise awareness about the socio-economic importance of hemp.
Covid had a significant influence on our efforts. We made multiple attempts to nurture our network, learning from both global and local initatives.
Post-Covid, events and gatherings gradually returned to normal. The second HempHangout (भाङ मेला) using a similar model, co-created with StoryCycle. Four varieties of hemp products were displayed.
Networking and developmental work. Ground work for the World Hemp Festival's first warmup event.
A WarmUp event under World Hemp Festival in collaboration with MCRC -Kathmandu University was successfully organised. With a participation from various influential stakeholders including Ministry of Home Affairs.
Extensive stakeholder engagement and involvement in the national cannabis policy draft.
We are actively forming partnerships and collaborations with hemp innovators and leaders dedicated to sustainability and wellbeing applications around the world.
Humble opportunity to advocate for the Hemp/cannabis friendly budget in the Nepal's National Budget for fiscal year 2024-25, where government endorsed for the first time budget for medical purpose. A lot more to do inspire sustainability applications.
Building community is a solid way to promote awareness about hemp's utility. Our work constantly will be focusing on that.
This year, we were pleased to significantly expand our network across Europe. We were also honoured to host speakers from two globally leading organisations and five international universities at our events. In parallel, we strengthened our engagement with national sustainability and hemp innovators through our Warm-Up Sessions.
In addition, we launched a new Sundown Session format, dedicated to exploring the latest developments and emerging insights in the field.
Our Warm-Up Sessions 2026 will focus on network-building and strategic preparatory work for the festival 2027.
Throughout the year, our work will support preparations for the 2027 full-fledged World Hemp Festival, with a primary focus on:
- Extending and formalizing national and international partnerships
- Collaborating with sustainability and wellbeing-driven companies, organisations, universities, and public agencies