The Sunshine Coast will host its first VegFest this Aug. 8 at the Roberts Creek Hall, thanks to two local women passionate about the plant movement.
Vegan lifestyle coach Deb Gleason and her friend Heather Doherty, an artist with a line of vegan clothing, first tossed around the idea of a local festival devoted to plant-powered living last Christmas.
By February they had enough buy-in from the community and local sponsors to make the festival official and to offer it for free.
“There are VegFests all over the world, and I’ve been to plenty of them,” Gleason said, noting Roberts Creek is good fit for a festival.
“They’re basically an amazing celebration of plant-based living with cooking demos, speakers, exhibitors, lots of free goodies and tasty food to try. It’s a really great way to learn more about living a plant-based lifestyle and to try different things you might not get exposed to other places.”
The Coast’s VegFest will feature keynote speaker Gene Baur, whom organizers contacted “on a long shot” that panned out.
Baur is a vegan activist and author and the president of a farm animal rescue organization he co-founded in the U.S.
He has been hailed as “the conscience of the food movement” by Time magazine.
“We are so thankful that he agreed to come speak,” Gleason said.
“We invited him particularly because he has been thinking about and creating and helping modify legislation around good food policy.”
Baur will speak at 2 p.m. and other guest speakers will take the stage throughout the day between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m. at the hall. Find out more about the line-up at www.sunshinecoastvegfest.com.
In addition to the scheduled talks, guests can expect to find live music, silent auctions and raffles, cooking demonstrations, exhibitors displaying products and giving away samples, a local farmers’ market, a café dishing up culinary delights, Vancouver’s popular Gypsy Trunk food cart serving vegan burritos and quesadillas and a children’s play area.
Gleason said there will be something for everyone at VegFest.
“This event is designed for everyone from the long-time vegan to the veg-curious. It’s for the whole range of people. For people who love food. For people who love learning new things. It’s for people who want to hear inspiring speakers. It’s for people with kids because we’re going to have a really great children’s area,” Gleason said.
“We’re hoping to appeal to everyone who eats.”
Organizers are still looking for volunteers to help with the day-long event. Help is specifically needed in the café and with greeting and selling raffle tickets.
If you want to help, contact Gleason at 604-210-1925 or fill out the volunteer form on the festival’s website.
