I finally made it down to Brighton at the weekend and although it was hardly sip-cocktails-on-the-beach kind of weather, the stormy skies were perfect for spending the day at an indoor festival and eating my weight in food!
Over the weekend, Brighton was host to 2013’s first Vegfest UK, a festival celebrating all things vegan. Vegfest Brighton was a two-day event featuring delicious food, animal-friendly health and beauty products, cruelty-free clothing and footwear, and veggie and animal aid publications and charities.
There was also live entertainment, seminars, workshops, films and cooking demos. And the best part? Entry was free!
My friend and I spent several hours at the festival on Saturday. We started by wandering around, scoping out and testing the different treats and fun things on offer whilst trying not to buy everything in sight! After sampling whole bunch of goodies and treating ourselves to a few canapé-sized snacks like satay tofu kebabs (delicious) and beetroot gazpacho (not so much), we headed downstairs to the demo area.
We watched the Vegan Mexican cooking demo by Sutra Kitchen, where they made Mexican beans in soft tacos with guacamole and pico de gallo (salsa). The chefs were entertaining and fun to watch and I can honestly say that the end result produced the tastiest salsa I have ever eaten. (Why did I not take notes like the girl beside me?!) However, I do wish they had been on a small platform/stage or that there had been an angled mirror behind them so that those who were not lucky enough to be in the first two or three rows could actually see what was going on. We plebs at the back just had to imagine all the goodness going on from the amazing aromas. Thank goodness for samples at the end of the demo!
The tasters were not quite big enough to fill us up (I would have taken a photo but I accidentally ate the subject instantly…) so we headed back to the main hall.
After much deliberation by me, the world’s most indecisive person, I settled on a Thai curried vegetable pie and my friend went for a vegan hot dog. We then treated ourselves to some vegan sorbet and gelatine-free sweets for dessert, whilst watching an attractive lad sing and play guitar. Heaven!
The afternoon brought slightly calmer weather, so we took the opportunity to wander around Brighton without umbrellas before the sun set. The beach and pier looked gorgeous in the evening light and I can’t wait to go back in summer and experience it properly!
The festival opened at 11am, so on Sunday we killed time at friendly, slightly hippy cafe Ground just across the road. Glad we got in early as I think everyone else had the same idea! I had a fresh juice and delicious coffee before heading back into the festival to grab a few more bits and pieces.
We ate amazing vegan sushi (which I’m so annoyed I didn’t take a photo of) and a few little canapé-sized treats, then stocked up on Beond and Pulsin’ bars for work snacks. They’re raw snack bars, kind of similar to Nakd bars that I have reviewed previously.
We didn’t stay long on Day Two as although a few of the stalls changed hands, there wasn’t too much new ground to cover. However, after a really great weekend I’m definitely keen for Vegfest London in October! Tickets are £10 for this one but they are currently on sale at 2-for-1 so it’s almost free. And if the London event is anything like its Brighton counterpart, it will definitely be worth it!
Here’s some of my favourite snaps from our afternoon in Brighton:
What an awesome festival! I should look to see if California has anything like that. Thanks for sharing.
Yeah, it’s such a good idea and made for a really fun weekend. Every city should have a Vegfest! =)
Vegfest!! I wish I could go 😀 That latte looks amazing!
It was such good coffee, we both had two! 😉
Can’t wait for the next Vegfest!
Hi, Jay here from Sutra kitchen. Thank you so much for the lovely comments we are really happy that you enjoyed our demo. We are hosting Bristol in May and London in October where we hope to up our game and try and make the stage better than before!
Thanks for commenting! I will definitely see you at the London show and may head to the Bristol show too. Don’t want to miss out on any tasty treats. 😉 Serisiously, though – I didn’t know salsa could be that amazing so thanks for sharing!
That veg fest looked like fun, fun, fun! Eating & savouring new foods veggie are great! Brighton is a beautiful town too!
It was really good! I think the only problem was there was TOO MUCH delicious food and I couldn’t try it all! 😉
Wow, I didn’t know something like this existed in the UK- wish I could’ve made it, the food and the latte looks divine! Also, beautiful pictures of the pier and the water!
Thanks! =)
Lucky for you (and me!), there’s still the Bristol festival in May and London in October so you haven’t missed out! You can get tickets/info here: http://www.vegfest.co.uk
Just saw this after I commented, I cant believe it…the London one is on 5th/6th October and I’m actually booked to be in Brighton then! What an unlucky coincidence!
Haha, oh dear – unlucky! There’s still Bristol, or maybe next year… 😉
Cant believe I missed this! I was down there in Feb d’oh! Will have to look out for other veggie food events 🙂 Looks like you had a great time, love your photos of the old pier
Oh, now I feel bad for not mentioning this in a blog post before I went as it obviously doesn’t get enough promotion! I can’t even remember how I found out about it. Maybe it came up when I was Googling for my veg festival food post or something?!
Hope you make it along to one some time. =)
Wonderful post – makes me nostalgic for my time in Brighton! The food sounds/looks delicious, too. Very cool that there is a Vegfest now 🙂
Thanks! I really enjoyed Brighton – can’t wait to go back in summer! The festival was brilliant and so glad there’s one in London later in the year!
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