Our fourth annual Twin Cities Veg Fest happened just a couple days ago, and we’re still feeling the excitement. We hope you were able to join us for this event, which was our biggest one yet with an estimate of more than 2,500 attendees.
Check out the slideshow below to get an idea of what the festival included. It’s just a glimpse of the many exhibitors, vendors, sponsors, speakers, chefs, volunteers, and attendees who made this year’s Twin Cities Veg Fest truly amazing. All of us at Compassionate Action for Animals are grateful to everyone involved. Thank you!
A few fantastic items of note:
- We had 10 food vendors this year, more than ever, with a number of new faces, including Gorkha Palace, Herbivorous Butcher selling brats, French Meadow, Jasmine Deli, and Two Ships Bakery, a new local vegan baking business.
- Jasmine Deli made a special item for the festival: a vegan version of an “original” banh mi with mock ham, pressed mock duck, and tofu. (It was delicious!)
- The exhibitors and vendors were very positive about their experience. A lot of people said that they were impressed with how organized the event was and that they had good interactions with attendees. Several exhibitors were so excited that they are already talking about their plans for next year.
- We handed out about 3,600 vegan food samples at our food giveaway table. Wow!
- The photo booth was quite popular. Check out all of the photos online!
- This year, we hosted our first-ever Twin Cities Veg Fest Pre-Party two days before the festival at moto-i. The food was delicious, and the crowd was lively and fun.
Perhaps most inspiring was the response from attendees. One of them said, “I am not currently vegetarian so this was so educational and helpful for me,” and another omnivore shared, “I learned a lot of amazing information and definitely am considering switching my diet.” This is one of the main reasons we host this festival: to make change that counts for the animals. We share the message that plant-based eating can be a reflection of our own compassion, that living our values in this way is not only possible but that it can also be fun. It just takes knowing what other choices we can make. And the festival does this, presenting a variety of delicious vegan food, speaker presentations, cooking demos, and other fun activities that engage thousands of people with this experience of compassionate living.
Thanks again to everyone who made the festival possible. Next year, we’re hoping to host the festival in an outdoor park, as we expect that it will keep growing just as our movement continues to grow. If you’re interested in joining the planning committee for the 2016 Twin Cities Veg Fest, contact Unny Nambudiripad at unny@exploreveg.org.
Cheers!
