On 1 April the Northern Vegan Festival arrived in Manchester and took the city by storm!
The festival started in 2013 and was founded by Roddy Hanson, a dedicated and passionate vegan with a drive to show the masses the benefits of a plant based diet. The Northern Vegan Festival is part of a national series of vegan festivals run by Roddy; since the launch in 2013 Roddy has partnered with Victoria Bryceson and Viva! to run the busy schedule of events. Each festival is 100% voluntarily run for charity Miracle’s Mission and Viva!.
Now in it’s fourth year, the event has attracted over 4,000 attendees and 200 exhibitors. This year’s festival included a beer festival, a packed schedule of talks and demos as well as a huge range of food stalls selling delicious vegan food. The food stalls were so popular that many sold out, the caterers could hardly keep up with the demand for food!
The Viva! team had the pleasure of speaking the crowds and were delighted to discovered that the festival inspired an entire family of 5 vegetarians to go vegan! Lots of attendees were already vegan, however a significant number were meat eaters who were interested in learning more about a plant-based diet. Viva! would like to say a special thank you to Sarah and Lucile, the fabulous volunteers who helped out on the Viva! merchandise stall all day.
Highlights of the event included Tony Wardle’s talks Dairy, Beef and Bullshit and Why You Don’t Need Dairy, both attracted audiences of over 200 as well as Vegan Recipe Club’s very own Jane Easton’s Budget Vegan Gourmet cookery demo which attracted over 150 people.
Viva! are holding a series of vegan festivals across country in 2017 – check out our festivals page to find one near you! www.viva.org.uk/festivals
