Our Hen House

Veg Fest, Anyone?

Posted on 07. Mar, 2011 by Nick Laccetti in Grazing in the Grassroots, Oink, Moo, Woof

Imagine rows upon rows of tables with samples of sundry and delicious vegan food, heaps of animal rights literature, and the chance to discuss your passion for animal activism with dozens of new friends. Is this the kind of thing you’re prone to having recurring dreams about? If so, think about volunteering at a vegetarian or vegan food festival in your area. If there isn’t one already, why not start the process of organizing it yourself? Remember, we can’t do these things for you.

Even in those cities with large, well-developed vegan communities (such as New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco), and especially in places where such communities don’t exist, organizing veg festivals can be an excellent way to bolster the movement while putting on a fun event. If you have experience with event planning, it can also be a great opportunity for activism. Most basically, veg fests serve as networking opportunities for vegans and animal rights activists, and a chance to advertise new vegan goods for vendors. But if you really invest the time and energy into pitching the event to local news outlets, it can also be an opportunity for getting veganism and animal rights activism further into the mainstream. Check out our changemaking tips on media outreach (guest-blogged by Farm Sanctuary’s PR guru, Meredith Turner) for more info on how to successfully pitch your event to the press.

See you at the NYC Veg Fest!

If you play your cards right, veg festivals aren’t just for the vegan choir, either. If there’s no fee for attending the event, and it’s held in a well-trodden public area, you can be sure that vegans won’t be the only attendees. People – not just vegans, really! – flock to wherever there’s free food and merchandise to be had. If that stuff happens to be vegan, all the better. Free festivals give passersby and curious visitors the chance to see that veganism is not a death sentence for their foodie lifestyles, but a chance to really live such lifestyles in a compassionate way. And once they’ve been lured in by the table of free cupcakes, the table of animal rights leaflets will seem far less daunting.

For those of you interested in organizing a festival in your area, take the upcoming, first ever NYC Vegetarian Food Festival as a model example. It will be held in Manhattan on April 3. (Jasmin will be speaking all about food activism, and I’ll be tabling for Our Hen House. Come say hi!) As the website explains, the festival “will feature food sampling and meals from New York City’s top vegetarian restaurants and food companies, vegetarian/animal welfare information tables, a raffle benefiting Empty Cages Collective and live entertainment and activities throughout the day.” With a great mix of vegan goods, animal rights information, and the draw of free loot and entertainment, the festival looks like it’s going to be the start of a grand tradition.

The organizers of the NYC fest also played it smart by getting some illustrious sponsors to help foot the bill for the event, including PETA and Rescue Chocolate (which we have covered here at Our Hen House and, more importantly, eaten). Reaching out to veg-friendly organizations in your area to sponsor your festival is a great way to advertise local organizations and companies while, at the same time, raising money for the event.

The Mad City Vegan Fest in Madison, Wisconsin is another upcoming festival – mark June 19 on your calendars! – that knows what it’s doing. Anything that promises “tons of samples of vegan food” is clearly an event worth attending. Additionally, it’s great to see more major vegan events in parts of the country beyond the two coasts. (And in the interest of full disclosure, Jasmin will be speaking there, too; Our Hen House really gets around).

So what are you waiting for? If there isn’t one already, get started organizing a veg fest in your area. Not only is it good for the animals, your grab-bag of free vegan goodies after a successful event will be payment enough.