Check out our write up from the first ever Twin Cities Veg Fest.

We’d like to thank our Twin Cities Veg Fest sponsors once again for their support of the festival. This event wouldn’t have been possible without their generous support.

We held our first ever Twin Cities Veg Fest on Saturday, July 14. It was a smashing success!

Thanks to the exhibitors for providing great vegan food and resources:

• A Frame Forward Photography
• Action for Animals
• Alternative Baking Company
• AM950
• Asasa Yaa
• Bee-Free Honee
• Bitter Roots
• Boneshaker Books
• Bumble Bar
• Captured by Brooke Photography
• Dandies Vegan Marshmallows
• Clean Water Action
• Compassion Over Killing
• Compassionate Action for Animals
• Conference Connections Bookstore
• Earthsave Twin Cities
• Ecology Democracy Network
• Equal Exchange
• Ethique Nouveau
• Field Roast
• Happy Animals
• The Hub Bike Co-op
• Introspective Comics
• Kojic Art
• Koru Street
• Mary’s Gone Crackers
• Mercy for Animals
• Minnesota Voters for Animal Protection
• Mississippi Market
• Move2Veg
• Peace Coffee
• Peanut Butter & Co.
• Planted for Life
• Primal Strips
• Pure Market Express
• Roosterhouse Ideas
• Seward Cafe
• Seward Co-op
• Sierra Club
• Turtle Island Foods
• Upton’s Naturals
• Vegan Honeymoons
• Vegan Pockets
• Vegan Sailing
• Vegetarian Resource Group

Thanks to the 50 volunteers that helped out on the day of, put up posters, stuffed bags, and told their friends about the festival!

We couldn’t have done it without the generous support of our sponsors.

Thanks to Lisa Mabley, Heidi Prenevost, and Nicole Riner for designing our print and online materials.

Finally, thanks to the committee who planned this event:

• Brita Bengtson – Advertising Guru
• Amber Buening – Whip Cracker (Volunteers)
• Jeff Johnson – The Rain Maker (Sponsorship)
• Shannon Kimball – Exhibitor Logistician
• Unny Nambudiripad – CAA Executive Director
• EG Nelson – Jill of All Trades
• David Rolsky – Extreme Delegator (Committee Chair)
• Suzy Sorensen – Raffle Wrangler and Speaker to Speakers
• Pat Tullo – Legal Eagle and Speaker to Speakers

Photo by A Frame Forward.

It’s hard for us to believe it’s over. After many months of planning, a few sleepless nights, and a lot of hard work, the first ever Twin Cities Veg Fest has come and gone.

We estimate that we had somewhere between 1,100 and 1,200 attendees. Several of our food vendors sold out of food, and several exhibitors ran out of handouts or food samples! We’re thrilled that so many people were interested in learning how they can change their lives to help animals.

We’d like to thank all of our volunteers, exhibitors, and sponsors once again. You made this a great event. See you next year!

It’s in the program, but we just wanted to make sure people know that Justin Leaf will be offering a free outdoor yoga session (behind Coffman on the grass) at 1pm, weather permitting. Thanks, Justin, for offering to do this!

After months of planning, the first ever Twin Cities Veg Fest is happening tomorrow! Join us for some delicious food, great speakers, a fun kids area, and an overall great time.

Whether you’re vegetarian, vegan, or just curious about compassionate living, the festival is for you. Don’t forget, the first 180 or so people through the door get an special swag bag with extra food. But even if you come later, you’ll still find a lot of food to try. We’ll have free vegan samples of all sorts, including chocolate bars, peanut butter in many flavors, seitan, marshmallows, and much more. Don’t eat too many samples though, because we also have some amazing food court vendors.

We also have a great selection of non-food exhibitors including book sellers, t-shirt makers, jewelry, artists, a vegan cruise captain, and other.

We look forward to seeing you there tomorrow, Saturday, July 14th, at Coffman Memorial Union on the University of Minnesota campus.

When we first started planning the festival, we debated whether to have it indoors or outdoors. Outdoors is great except when it’s not so great. Indoors is easier, but attendance may suffer if the weather is too perfect. We chose indoors because its our first year and we didn’t want to have add weather contingency planning to our planning.

Fortunately for us organizers, the weather will not be perfect, and having it indoors is starting to look prescient. It looks like yet another day in the 90s as a renewed heat wave starts up over the weekend. Fortunately for you, the festival is indoors. So you can enjoy all the great food, speakers, and exhibitors without sweating buckets.

If you like sweating buckets, you can grab some food and go sit outdoors on the grass behind Coffman. To each their own and all that. Far be it from us to prevent you from sweating buckets.

See you at the festival this Saturday, July 14th.

Last night we stuffed a little over 1,000 swag bags for Twin Cities Veg Fest attendees. Every bag has some food, but there are about 180 bags or so with more food than the others, and the extra food is a tasty vegan dessert. We’ll be handing those bags out to the first people through the doors, so come early to get one.

Swimming in an ocean of bags

Today we have an interview with Eddie Garza, senior campaign coordinator at Mercy for Animals, a sponsor of this year’s Twin Cities Veg Fest.  For more information on MFA and their work to prevent cruelty towards farm animals, visit their website.

CAA:  What is your mission?

Mercy For Animals is a national nonprofit animal protection organization dedicated to preventing cruelty to farmed animals and promoting compassionate food choices and policies.

CAA:  Why are you sponsoring the Veg Fest?

It’s an important event! Mercy For Animals proudly supports the Twin Cities Veg Fest and its mission to promote healthy, sustainable, and compassionate food choices.

CAA:  What are you most excited about at the Veg Fest?

We’re excited about the whole thing! It’s great to have a free event that offers lectures, food samples, information, resources, and a ton of fun. This Veg Fest will help open the hearts and minds of countless people to the health and ethical benefits of a plant-based diet.

CAA:  What do you see in the future for animal advocacy?

As more people wake up to the cruel and inhumane plight animals face on factory farms and in slaughterhouses, the number of vegans will continue to dramatically increase. To meet this demand, the market for products free of meat, dairy, and eggs will continue to expand and improve. We will see more states pass new laws outlawing some of the most abusive practices on factory farms, and more corporations will implement and improve their farmed animal welfare policies.