FESTIVAL FEVER A
utumn sees two of the UK’s most popular vegan events: the London Vegan Festival and the Bristol Vegan Fayre. Both events offer an incredible mixture of cruelty-free shopping, entertainment and education. If you’ve been to either of them before, you’ll almost definitely want to go again; if you’ve never been, here’s a taste of what you’ve been missing. THE LONDON VEGAN FESTIVAL
Now in its eighth year, the London Vegan Festival is one of the biggest gatherings of vegans anywhere in the world. We caught up with the event’s organisers, Robin Lane and Alison Coe, to learn a bit more about the background to the event and to find out what this year’s festival has in store. Can you describe the festival for readers who have never been? The London Vegan Festival is a vibrant, informative and enjoyable event. This year it offers the same great day out as it always has with some new additions. There is a wide range of stalls with information about veganism and related issues, vegan products such as toiletries, cosmetics, footwear and, best of all, loads of vegan food (both raw and cooked) including the ever-popular veggie burgers, chocolates and cakes. Vegan drinks are available at the bar. There are speakers, children’s activities, acoustic music and opportunities to meet like-minded people. The festival also attracts non-vegans who want to make a change in their lives, as well as those who are interested in finding out more.
The first National Vegan Festival took place in London in 1998 and was organised by Robin, Alison, Chris Sutoris, Julie Rosenfield and Brian Jacobs, who were mostly Vegan Society Council members at the time. It was a great success. The 1999 festival was run solely by Robin and Alison, who have organised the festivals ever since. Coordinating a major event has been a learning curve as we had no previous experience and it has given us the opportunity to pass on our knowledge to others who may wish to organise their own events, should they need it.
Check out www.londonveganfestival.org.uk for further details.
Have you been to any of the other big vegan festivals?
Tell us a little bit about the history of the festival:
We visited the Birmingham vegan festival in June and will be attending the forthcoming Bristol festival. It’s great to see vegan festivals in other parts of the country taking the message far and wide.
The initial suggestion of a vegan festival came out of an idea by Chris Sutoris for a major annual vegan event that could encompass all aspects of veganism including the promotion of animal rights whilst providing entertainment at the same time.
What do you think this festival, and others like it, contributes to the vegan movement? Vegan festivals provide an opportunity to find out more about veganism, to meet like-minded people in a friendly environment and to inspire others to organise their own events. The vegan festival also provides a day out where everything is safe to eat and OK to wear! It’s a day where people can meet up with friends and enjoy a totally vegan day out and try out new products. When people contact us who have attended the vegan festival and say they’ve become vegan, we think that’s great and that’s what it’s all about! We would like to take this opportunity to thank The Vegan Society for its continuous support from the very beginning, and to express our gratitude to all of our other sponsors and the volunteers who have helped make the vegan festivals such a great success. Web: www.londonveganfestival.org.uk Organised by CALF This year’s London Vegan Festival takes place on Sunday 25th September, from 10am to 7pm at Kensington Town Hall, Hornton Street, London W8 (nearest tube: High St Kensington). Admission £1, under 16s free.
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The Vegan l Autumn 2005