With school back in session, we’re thinking about all the ways we learn and teach compassion for animals.

Our Bridges of Respect humane education is reaching people of all ages in middle schools, high schools, colleges, and community programs. Watch the inspiring new video to learn more about this CAA program, now in its eighteenth year.

We hope you’ll share the video with Twin Cities educators who might be interested in free classroom presentations. And please “like” the new Bridges of Respect Facebook page.

Even those of us who have been in the movement for years can learn new animal advocacy skills. A number of us went to the 2017 Animal Rights National Conference in August to do just that. Read all about it.

Lastly, CAA continues to have an active student group at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. In fact, we had more than seventy-five students attend our first campus meeting of the semester. That’s unprecedented!

If you’re a college student from a different school who wants to get involved, email me. I’d love to help you advocate for animals on your campus.

By the way, you can look forward to a new format for this Weekly Update, coming next week.

With the animals,

Laura Matanah

P.S. Congratulations to the winners of our Twin Cities Veg Fest survey raffle: Bethany Wanvig of Minneapolis, Adrienne Suess of St. Paul, Jack Bryan of St. Paul, Thomas Peterson of St. Paul, and Angel Johnson of Duluth. Enjoy your gift baskets full of vegan goodies!

Thanks to all of the 7,000 people who joined us for Twin Cities Veg Fest on Saturday!

It was a truly beautiful day, not only because of the sun shining, but also because so many folks came out to get a taste of compassionate living. What a movement we are in!

Huge thanks also to all of the volunteers, planning committee members, vendors, exhibitors, chefs, presenters, donors, sponsors, and everyone else who helped to make this year’s Twin Cities Veg Fest a success. We certainly could not have done it without you.

Read more about the festival highlights on our blog. A photo slideshow is coming soon!

We hope that if you came to the festival, you’re inspired to get more involved with CAA as the year goes on. We’ve got lots of community events, volunteer opportunities, and other activities coming up. Check what’s happening in September below!

With the animals,

Laura Matanah

September Events

• Twin Cities Veg Fest Data Entry Party
  • Thursday, September 14, 4 – 9pm
  • CAA Community Space, 2100 1st Avenue S, Minneapolis
  • To sign up, RSVP on the Facebook event page or contact Laura Matanah at laura@exploreveg.org.
• Bridges of Respect: Informational Meeting
  • Saturday, September 16, 1 – 2:30pm
  • CAA Community Space, 2100 1st Avenue S, Minneapolis
  • Learn more about how you can get involved with Bridges of Respect, CAA’s humane education program.
  • For more information or to RSVP, contact Shannon at shannon@bridgesofrespect.org.
• September Dine Out: Pizza Lucé Seward
  • Thursday, September 21, 6:30 – 8:30pm
  • Preregistration is required. Seating is limited to 20 guests.
  • Register today!

Have you seen the outrageous video featuring some local vegan celebrities racing across the field at Como Park?

We hope you have as much fun watching it as we had making it. And we hope that it reminds you that Twin Cities Veg Fest will be outdoors this year, for the first time ever at Como Regional Park on Saturday, September 9 from 11am to 5pm.

Now, to answer all your questions about the festival:

Who can come?

Everyone is welcome, whether vegan, vegetarian, or omnivore. We encourage you to bring your friends and family. And dogs are welcome, too.

Where is it?

The festival will be located at Como Regional Park, which is a big park. Google “1199 Midway Parkway, St. Paul” if you’re trying to find the exact location.

How do I get there?

Parking near the festival site is very limited, but we will have a shuttle service from Rosedale Shopping Center for those who are driving. (Five buses will be running from 10:30am to 6:00pm.) Carpooling is a good idea, and we also highly recommend biking or using metro transit if you can. For more information about getting to the festival, visit tcvegfest.com.

How much does it cost?

The festival is free to attend, and there will be lots of free vegan food samples. There will also be a variety of vendors selling vegan food and other products.

What can I expect?

A lot of fun! We’ll give out special swag bags to the first 250 attendees, so you should arrive early if you want to score some swag. There will be lots of vegan food, exhibitors, and presentations, including three cooking demos. Check out the festival schedule for all the details.

How can I help out?

Invite your friends using the Facebook event page and share on social media using the hashtags #TCVegFest and #CelebrateCompassion. We also have a few volunteer spots left, so sign up now if you want to lend a hand behind the scenes.

What about the weather?

It looks like we’ll have fantastic weather, but just know that this festival is happening rain or shine.

We look forward to seeing you on Saturday for our biggest event of the year!

With the animals,

Laura Matanah

P.S. Check out all of our awesome press for the festival including articles in the Pioneer Press and City Pages. Also, we’ll have three TV appearances on Saturday morning: WCCO/CBS between 8 and 9am, KARE 11 between 8 and 9am, and FOX 9 at 8:15am. So exciting!

We’re happy to share the 2017 recipient of our Kenny Feldman Animal Advocate Award is Christine Coughlin, Minnesota State Director for the Humane Society of the United States.

Check out our most recent blog post to learn more about all the fantastic work that Christine has done over the years. We’re so grateful to have her fighting on behalf of animals in Minnesota.

We look forward to presenting the award to her at Twin Cities Veg Fest, which is now less than two weeks away. (Can you believe it?!)

This year’s festival at Como Park is sure to be amazing, and we want to make sure you know how to get there. Parking is limited, so we’re providing a shuttle service from the Rosedale Shopping Center. Please visit tcvegfest.com for more details.

We’ll have lots more practical festival details to share with you in next week’s e-news.

The countdown is on!

With the animals,

Laura Matanah

As we continue to rev up for Twin Cities Veg Fest, I’m revealing our line-up of festival presentations.

Since we’ll be outdoors at Como Park, all the cooking demonstrations and speaker presentations will be under one big tent. Look forward to a big mix of entertaining, informative, inspiring, and delicious!

Here’s the schedule:

• 11:30am – Easy Plant-Based Cheeses
  • Cooking demo with Steve Leinen
• 1:00pm – Secrets of Decadent Vegan Desserts
  • Cooking demo with Mistress Ginger
• 2:15pm – Kenny Feldman Animal Advocate Award Presentation
  • Recipient to be announced in next week’s email news!
• 2:30pm – Animal Rescues and Twin Cities Farm Sanctuaries
  • Panel discussion moderated by Madeline Karita Fleming
• 3:45pm – Stress Free Pressure Cooking with Feed Me Vegan
  • Cooking demo with Chelsea Youngquist & Norine Slathar

All of the cooking demos include free food samples, by the way!

And please stay tuned for next week’s email news, in which we’ll be revealing the winner of this year’s Kenny Feldman Animal Advocate Award.

And just in case you’re not in the Twin Cities region and can’t make it to the festival, you don’t have to miss out! All of these presentations will be live streamed on our Twin Cities Veg Fest Facebook page. We hope you’ll be inspired and share with your friends!

With the animals,

Laura Matanah

P.S. Do you want to help make sure that Twin Cities Veg Fest is a zero-waste event? Sign up now to be a part of the Twin Cities Veg Fest waste management team!

With Twin Cities Veg Fest less than a month away, we’ll be using our next few weekly e-newsletters to give you a glimpse of what you can expect at the festival.

Today’s special preview is all about everyone’s favorite part: The food!

Look forward to some delicious vegan eats. There will be a large variety of both free samples or food available for purchase. Here are the vendors who have already signed up:

• Bee Free Honee
• Double Take Salsa
• Good Karma Foods
• Ghorka Palace
• Green Garden Bakery
• Grlk
• The Herbivorous Butcher
• Innate Foods
• Jasmine Deli
• K-Mama Sauce
• Maazah Chutney
• Root to Rise
• So Good So You
• Spoon Optional
• Sssdude-Nutz Donutz
• St. Pops
• Superior Switchel Co.
• Sweet Root Mpls
• Totally Baked Donuts
• Vegan East

I think it’s safe to say you won’t go hungry!

Check out our growing list of exhibitors at tcvegfest.com, and be sure to RSVP to the Twin Cities Veg Fest Facebook event page, where we’ll be highlighting a variety of these awesome vegan-friendly vendors. (And have you noticed that more than 7,000 folks have already RSVPed to the event?!)

Remember, Twin Cities Veg Fest is happening Saturday, September 9 at Como Park, and it’s free to attend. Bring your friends and family and show them how wonderful vegan food can be.

With the animals,

Laura Matanah

P.S. If you can’t wait till September 9 for a taste of Twin Cities Veg Fest, I hope you’ll join us this weekend on Sunday, August 20 at the Linden Hills Farmers Market for their very special Veg-End, featuring vegan food, cooking demos, and more!

The next month offers lots of opportunities to take action for animals and to have fun with our compassionate community.

Our summer leafleting events continue full throttle, and preparations for Twin Cities Veg Fest are ramping up.

With the festival just around the corner on September 9, we’re getting super excited and hope you are too. Check out these ways you can help promote the festival. Let’s get the word out!

Also, our festival fundraiser continues for just one week more. We’ve made tremendous progress so far. Thanks to all of you who have donated!

We have only about $1,000 left to raise of the $12,000 we need. (Don’t forget about our dollar for dollar match!) If you can make a donation of any amount today, that’ll help us reach our goal by August 9.

Please give today and support the growth of Twin Cities Veg Fest.

We are grateful for your support and for all the ways you help to make the world a more compassionate place with your everyday choices.

With the animals,

Laura Matanah

August Events

• Twin Cities Veg Fest Postering (Off-Campus Round 2)
  • Saturday, August 5, 12 – 4pm
  • CAA Community Space, 2100 1st Avenue S, Minneapolis
  • If you plan to attend, please contact Laura Matanah at laura@exploreveg.org.
• Summer Leafleting at Excel Energy Center – Bruno Mars
  • Saturday, August 5, 10 – 11pm
  • 199 W Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul
  • Sign up now
• Summer Leafleting at the Cat Video Festival
  • Tuesday, August 8, 6 – 7pm
  • CHS Field, 360 Broadway Street, St. Paul
  • Sign up now
• August Potluck & TCVF Postering
  • Saturday, August 13, 2 – 7pm
  • CAA Community Space, 2100 1st Ave. S, Minneapolis
    • Postering (Off-Campus Round 3): 2 – 5pm
    • Potluck: 5 – 7pm
  • RSVP on the Facebook event page or contact Justin at justin@exploreveg.org.
• Veg-End at Linden Hills Farmers Market
  • Sunday, August 20, 9am – 1pm
  • 2813 43rd Street W, Minneapolis
  • The Linden Hills Farmers Market is teaming up with Twin Cities Veg Fest to bring you a snapshot of the upcoming festival. Come on out and join in the fun!
  • RSVP to the Facebook event page and invite your friends!
• August Dine Out: Eureka Compass Vegan Food
  • Friday, August 25, 6 – 8pm
  • 629 Aldine Street, St. Paul
  • Preregister to reserve your spot.
• Twin Cities Veg Fest Postering (Off-Campus Round 4)
  • Saturday, August 26, 12 – 4pm
  • CAA Community Space, 2100 1st Avenue S, Minneapolis
  • If you plan to attend, please contact Laura Matanah at laura@exploreveg.org.

As we revel in the ever-growing vegan food scene, it’s important to remember why we’re in this to begin with. For many of us, it’s for the animals.

Thankfully, we’ve got lots of farm sanctuaries cropping up in the region, and all of them offer a chance to visit with rescued animals who remind us of our mission.

Maybe you’ve already heard about Wally, the brave pig who jumped off a moving truck while on the way to a processing plant. You can meet him at SoulSpace Farm Sanctuary. He’s a real sweetheart!

We also want to let you know about Spring Farm Sanctuary in Long Lake. They have their grand opening festivities on Saturday, July 29. Check it out!

Of course, it’s devastating to think of the billions of farmed animals who haven’t been rescued.

But we can do something about that.

Please put your compassion into action and join us for our summer outreach. Coming up this weekend, we’ll be at Rock the Garden and at the Warped Tour. We’d love to see you there!

With the animals,

Laura Matanah

P.S. Here’s another opportunity for you to do something powerful to nurture our compassionate community: You can make a tax-deductible donation today to support Twin Cities Veg Fest! Our fundraiser continues through August 9, and all donations up to $6,000 will be doubled thanks to a group of generous donors. We appreciate your support!

…we know we’re winning.

True, Netflix and Häagen-Dazs didn’t go completely vegan. But the movie Okja, produced by Netflix and now available through their streaming service, tackles the critical issue of animal exploitation in a pro-vegan, engaging way. We’re excited by how many folks will be reconsidering their food choices after watching.

Speaking of food choices, Häagen-Dazs, one of the world’s most popular ice cream brands, is now making it easier to choose vegan with their new nondairy options. (Of course, Ben and Jerry’s had already introduced its own vegan options last year.)

What does all of this mean for us?

It means that veganism is continuing to make its way into the mainstream consciousness. That increases the likelihood that more people will embrace their empathy for animals and move toward a plant-based diet. It’s more than a trend; it’s the future!

Thank you for being a part of this thriving movement. Please continue to be a part of our community and take action in ways large and small. You can attend our upcoming events, sign up to volunteer, and make a donation to support our ongoing work. We appreciate all that you do to spread compassion!

With the animals,

Laura Matanah

July is almost here already! Can you believe it?

We hope you and your friends will join us on Sunday for our big community picnic potluck, co-hosted with the Animal Rights Coalition. Bring a vegan dish to share and join the fun!

Also, we’ve got lots of advocating for animals happening this month, including a series of summer leafleting events and our annual outreach day at the Warped Tour, where we partner with national organizations FARM, Vegan Outreach, and The Humane League.

Let’s sow the seeds of compassion all summer long!

With the animals,

Laura Matanah

July Events

• Summer Leafleting at Excel Energy Center – Ed Sheeran
  • Saturday, July 1, 10 – 11pm
  • Excel Energy Center, 199 W Kellogg Blvd., St. Paul
  • Sign up now
• July Potluck: Celebrate America—Vegan Style!
  • Sunday, July 2, 11am – 2pm
  • Minnehaha Park, Wabun D pavilion
  • The Beyond Burger and all the fixin’s will be provided. Here’s what vegan things you can bring:
    • If your last name begins with letters A-F: salad
    • If your last name begins with letters G-L: side dish
    • If your last name begins with letters M-S: dessert
    • If your last name begins with letters T-Z: beverage
  • RSVP on the Facebook event page and invite your friends!
• Summer Leafleting at Basilica Block Party
  • Saturday, July 8, 5 – 6pm
  • Rudolph’s, 1933 Lyndale Avenue, Minneapolis
  • Sign up now
• July Dine Out: Hola Arepa
  • Tuesday, July 11, 7 – 9pm
  • Preregistration is required for this event, and it is currently SOLD OUT! Contact Justin at justin@exploreveg.org if you’d like to get on the waiting list.
• Summer Leafleting at Bastille Block Party
  • Friday, July 14, 6 – 7pm
  • Amazing Thailand, 3024 Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis
  • Sign up now
• Summer Leafleting at Rock the Garden
  • Saturday, July 22, 3 – 4pm
  • Walker Art Center, 1750 Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis
  • Sign up now
• Outreach at the Warped Tour
  • Saturday, July 23, 10am – 9:30pm
  • Canterbury Park, Shakopee
  • Sign up now