With Nimbin’s MardiGrass on this weekend, organisers say the Women’s Morning Tea at the festival ‘will bring together women from across Australia, creating space for connection, conversation, and community at a time when access, education, and representation in cannabis are shifting rapidly’.
The Morning tea will be held at the Bush Theatre, Nimbin Saturday May 2nd 2026 from 10am–12pm.
‘Held as part of this year’s MardiGrass program, the morning tea will feature a lineup of women working across advocacy, education, and policy, including Kyla de Clifford of Canna Curious, Melanie Wentzel, author of Cannabis Queens, Rachel Payne MP of the Legalise Cannabis Party, Bee Mohamed from MATA, Chloe Sweetman – Teh from PlantMed and Crystal White fromm Northern Rivers Hemp
‘Women have always been caregivers of this plant. To me, this event is about remembering that history and recognising that we’re walking a path that was built long before us. Our role now is to continue it — and make sure that knowledge isn’t lost as everything around it changes’, said Kyla de Clifford, founder of Canna Curious.
Organisers say, ‘The history of women and cannabis in Nimbin runs deep. Following the Aquarius Festival, women were central to the countercultural migration into the region, contributing to communal living models grounded in herbal knowledge and plant medicine traditions, including early cannabis cultivation. During decades of heavy policing and raids across the Northern Rivers, women played a critical role in holding families and communities together’
‘Since Australia’s shift toward a regulated medical cannabis framework in 2016, many of these community-led approaches to care have evolved, extending beyond Nimbin into urban settings in new and often more formalised ways. While the landscape has changed, the underlying values of caregiving, education, and shared knowledge remain.
‘Bringing these women together is about more than connection, it is about recognising and preserving a lineage of knowledge that has long existed outside formal systems, and ensuring those voices remain part of the conversation as the industry continues to develop.
‘The Women’s Morning Tea forms part of a broader program of events at MardiGrass 2026, continuing Nimbin’s legacy as a meeting point for culture, activism, and community.
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