A Vegan Obsession

Latest From VegFest. It’s A Mock Meat Fest!

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Haven for carnivores at Europe’s biggest veggie festival on Bristol Harbourside

One of Europe’s prime foodie event VegfestUK Bristol will feature a number of high-quality meatless meat products that will have even committed carnivores not only enjoying the new textures and sensations that meat-free products provide, but also maybe even being tempted to think about replacing some of their favourite animal products with plant-based alternatives.
The festival, which enters its 12th year on May 23rd 24th 25th at the Amphitheatre and is set to attract around 20,000 visitors, aims to showcase the crème de la crème of following a plant-based lifestyle. ‘Meat’ plays centre stage in the myriad of products on show, and this year the UK public have the chance of sampling the following brands of plant-based meats at this event:
 
Bute Island Foods are the producers of their “Vegandeli” range of mock meats which include 7 delicious varieties of meat-free continental sausages, from original/spicy/smoked/Italian gourmet Mortadela, Chorizo sausages, Mock Ham, Gourmet Morcilla - all highly versatile besides being very tasty, giving the meat-based counterparts a good run for their money.
Gillie Food are one of the Oriental Vegan and Vegetarian meat-substitute alternatives food manufacturers & importers in UK. Their products range are based in Textured Soya Protein and Wheat Protein, which is a nutritious member of the protein family, is entirely meat free. Their products are NON-MSG with no GMO nor preservatives.
Grano e Vita (a.k.a Muscolo di Grano) offers superb plant-based meats based on wheat and legumes that have a nutritional value similar to meat while remaining totally plant-based. It’s the ideal food for those who wish to eat a healthy and nourishing meal and still enjoy all the flavours of the Mediterranean cuisine.
Vegusto produces a range of meat free alternatives made from only the highest quality ingredients. Options include: farmhouse sausages, Wiener sausages, festive roasts, schnitzels, etc. They’ll be serving freshly made hot dogs at the show alongside their impressive array of meats.
 
The show organisers added, “It’s an absolute pleasure to witness the rise of these top-notch plant-based meat brands in the upward trend of healthier, more eco-friendly and sustainable living, given the huge toll that livestock farming has on the environment and animal products have on our health. Arguably the biggest obstacle for many in going veggie or eating healthily is the sumptuous taste of their meat. Those heroic producers of vegan meat substitutes have really made plant-based living both convenient and more than palatable for many souls out there, and we’re honoured to showcase these products to the public.”
 
These ‘meats’ come in conjunction with many vegan milks, cheeses, chocolates and other substitutes for animal produce which can be found at the 140 stalls including 5 all day bars at the show – and with numerous special offers available, make sure to bring plenty of cash and shopping bags with you! If you wish to learn more about plant-based lifestyles, don’t miss the dozens of talks, cookery demos, workshops and short films.
 
There’s still time for a variety of entertainment from kids cookery classes, hoola hoops, comedians and musicians during the day. Focus shifts to headline music in the evenings with Boney M ft. Maizie Williams, Gwen Dickey’s Rose Royce, Abba Gold, Peter Hook and the Light, Ruts DC, Goldblade, Zion Train and Black Roots gracing the Amphitheatre stage.
 
Admission from 11am-6pm on Saturday and Sunday is £3 (on the gate) and free for kids under 16. Full admission info and advance tickets for the evening events on Friday, Saturday and Sunday is available at www.bristol.vegfest.co.uk/ticket-information, with a BUY ONE GET ONE HALF PRICE offer running till April 30th.

All press materials are available here:

  • Event programme www.bristol.vegfest.co.uk/programme
  • Press releases www.bristol.vegfest.co.uk/press-releases
  • Posters and flyers www.bristol.vegfest.co.uk/posters-and-flyers
  • Banners www.bristol.vegfest.co.uk/banners
  • Facebook posters www.bristol.vegfest.co.uk/facebook-posters

VegfestUK Bristol is sponsored by: Fry’s Vegetarian UK, Yaoh, JASON Natural Care, Bute Island Foods, Nakd Wholefoods, Lavera, Suma Wholefoods, Living Naturally, Koko Dairy Free, Vegfund, Out of Hand and Viva!

VegfestUK organise 2 other events this year – London on September 27th 28th at Olympia West Halls, and Brighton on March 29th 30th. The Brighton event attracted a large crowd of over 5,000 visitors, and the London event is set to draw around 10,000 people. All products displayed at VegfestUK events are 100% plant-based. Seewww.vegfest.co.uk or email [email protected] for full details.
 



This blog post is a guest post by VegFest

VegFEST Bristol 2014 - Free Tickets To Giveaway

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Preparations for one of Europe’s biggest and most unique vegan lifestyle and music festival VegfestUK Bristol 23-25th May, are gathering pace, with headliners announced and tickets now on sale.
This festival traditionally features a vegan food fayre during the day and lets it’s hair down with headline music in the evenings.  25,000 visited past 2 years.

This year’s headliners are:

- Boney M ft. Maizie Williams, Gwen Dickey’s Rose Royce, Abba Gold on Friday May 23rd
- Peter Hook and the Light, Ruts D.C., Goldblade on Saturday May 24th
- Zion Train, Black Roots on Sunday May 25th

Full admission info and advance tickets for the evening part of the show are at  www.bristol.vegfest.co.uk/ticket-information

Of course you want to be there!  We have 2 pairs of tickets to giveaway.  1 pair for Friday and 1 pair for Saturday. Each pair is worth £25!

Enter below for your chance to win.  Winners to be announced 1st week in May.

Meanwhile, the daytime events feature 140 stalls & caterers, dozens of talks and cookery demos, clay modelling workshops, hoola-hoops, kids cookery classes, art and craft tent, comedy hours, short films, 5 all-day bars and more!

Admission for daytime events is £3 (pay on gate) and free for kids under 16, with no advance tickets available.


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Interview with Tim Barford. Founder of VegFest UK

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With our GIVEAWAY currently running (have you entered yet?) for free tickets to VegFest London 2013, I thought it would be interesting to find out just how an idea becomes a festival. Also how one man morphs into an entrepreneur, and head honcho of everything hemp. 

Tim Barford kindly found some time out from running Yaoh and managing London Vegfest, to answer a few burning questions I had for him.

Why did you set up VegFestUK?  I set up VegfestUK back in 2003, just for the crack really, seemed like a good idea for a party at the time. The vegan thing was obviously a lot smaller then so it seemed a really good idea to get it all in one place and then throw a big party around it and invite everyone to come. It’s worked a treat. Loads of people have taken their first steps towards a veggie, flexi or vegan lifestyle by coming to one of our events.
How and where did it begin?. 
The first show was in Bristol at The Watershed on November 1st 2003 – we had 40 stalls, and around 1200 visitors, plus about 300 more in the bar next door! We had a room for live music and  some demos, and also a talks room, and it went from there. There was a classic moment when a Pink Panther went round the whole show and gave every stallholder a glass of champagne – that Panther must have known what was around the corner for VegfestUK, its turned out to be an incredible success story on every level.
How it has expanded over the years, as in venues and attendance numbers?
The first few years the show grew but not dramatically – we moved to the L shed in 2004 and the show grew to 80 stalls and around 4,000 visitors which was amazing. 2005 and 2006 continued at The L Shed with similar numbers and then in 2007 the L Shed shut and we moved over the river to our current home, The Amphitheatre. This gave us room to expand as it was all outdoors, and we now have a regular 140 stalls and around 20 – 25 000 visitors over the 3 days. It’s wonderful. Brighton has expanded too, with 135 stalls and 7,000 visitors since its launch 5 years ago. And with London in its first year, we await to see how that will go, as it stands a month ahead it’s looking like a cracker
Have there been any knock on effect achievements because of the Fest?  Lots of other shows including the West Midlands and the North East Vegan Festivals have taken inspiration from our shows and gone off and started their own, which is really amazing. And a lot of people have started eating more vegan food after coming to our events – hundreds of thousands of people. And with our media and PR presence growing every year, we are reaching more and more people through a lot of different channels.
What is your vision for future events?  
My vision for future events is that every food festival in the world is a vegan festival. Might seem a long way off but that is what I am working towards. Meanwhile we’ll keep what we doing and keep it interesting and going, it’s got its own energy now, the vegan thing, its growing of its own accord cos now so many people are on this tip. It’s for real.
What is your current favourite meal (is this an impossible question? probably, I can never answer it).  I love hemp (*I should have guessed he’d say that!), especially dehulled hemp seed in smoothies. hummus and pitta with salad and olives. And noodles with chilli and garlic. Just discovered raw courgette noodles and a raw pesto which is pretty cool.

What a guy!

I can’t wait for VegFest London.  Come too!  Enter to win free tickets.

I hope to see your there.  Please come say hello.



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