Veg Fest 2018 — GRANDERMARNIER

I am still coming down from my Veg Fest 2018 high, it was so much fun and I couldn’t wait to tell you guys about it. For those of you who don’t know, Veg Fest is an annual Vegan festival that tours the UK, and luckily for me, stops in Bristol each year. I went last year when I was very new to both veganism and blogging, so pretty much just walked around and looked at what was on offer and tried a couple of the food stalls (ok more like 4 or 5 different ones). But this year I knew exactly who was going to be there, what I wanted to see/do and best of all, I was going with my friend Tanekka who runs a Vegan Fashion blog called @thegoldengrenadine – seriously, check out her blog guys it’s amazing - here's the link!

Every girlboss needs to stop for ice cream...

This year the event was held at Ashton Gate Football Stadium in South Bristol, as opposed to last year when it was at Millennium Square in the Centre. I think the venue worked quite well, it was much more spaced out than last year and there were lots of places to sit and eat which I didn’t think was as good last year. They had live music throughout the day, which really gave it a festival-vibe, live talks and cooking demos (we caught the end of one of them it looked really good) and then hundreds of food and drink stalls. The food did not disappoint, such a huge variety from around the world all under one roof, it’s really special that we can have this on offer to us in such abundance, not just at Veg Fest but for vegans in general now. I tried the samosa chaat from Babita’s Spice Deli and OMG it was the best decision I made all day, sooo tasty and such a great range of toppings and fillings you could choose from. We also had ice cream from the Booja-Booja tuk tuk, which was well worth the queue!! Had a cheeky Pimms O’clock with my lunch and bought some chocolate bars for later (aka later that evening). I think I was more controlled this year but I do regret not getting the churros again as they were the nicest things ever!

Now onto the clothes. Well we were pretty spoiled for choice this year, a lot of familiar faces and even more new ones, which was great to see! I’m so glad that designers come and take part in Veg Fest, it really helps make it a success every year. I saw the guys from Viva la Vegan, Heartcure Clothing/Brooks Animal Sanctuary and Mabboo (the bamboo clothing specialists), these are all brands I’m quite familiar with and it was great to talk to them and see what new pieces were on offer this year.

One of the new brands I discovered was Ethcs (supposed to be ethics without the “I” / without the ego) and they had some really cool pieces like sweatshirts with the brands name on it and t-shirts, vests and crop-tops. Everything was in either baby pink/blue, black or white, very 90’s atheleisure style. Also found a cool brand called Being Clothing, who had cute t-shirts and sweaters with vegan illustrations and slogans on them, they were really wearable and had a great message with them. Their manufacturing process was climate neutral, using only renewable energy from solar and wind power.

I briefly spoke with the owners of New Spirit clothing, I really liked their tagline “supplying conscious garments for the conscious consumer” – exactly what I like to hear! They had really cool t-shirts and hoodies with their logo on and some slogans and illustrations. They looked like they would work for the gym and a casual outfit. Last but not least, I had a lovely chat with the owner of Willowknd, an eco-friendly clothing company selling adult, children and baby clothes, all in organic cotton and using plant-based inks. It was her first tradeshow but everything looked so well established you never would have guessed! More info on these guys coming soon!

Do you ever feel drawn to a certain place and can’t really explain it? I felt this with the Divine Gaia stall, being hosted by a lovely woman (annoyed I didn’t catch her name) who explained to me about the crystals she was selling, where they came from and the healing properties they had. I know a lot of people don’t ‘believe’ in crystals and energy, but I think people should do their own research and also, if it feels right to you, then it doesn’t really matter what anyone else says? More information about my interest in crystals coming soon :)

Stopped by at the Chaaboo stall, selling homemade tea soaps, free from palm oil and all the soaps had tea water/leaves in them, they smelt amazing! Neek had a really cool stall selling vegan skincare and lipsticks in bamboo containers, I was very tempted to buy one of their gorgeous lipsticks but by this point all my money was long gone! Had to stop by the Eden perfume stand, more info coming soon about what I bought from them…

There were a few stalls for animal sanctuaries which I thought was really good as it’s easy to get caught up in the food and fashion but we need to remember we’re all here for the animals! I stopped by a stand promoting the new ‘Kangaroo’ film and had a long chat with the guy there and he explained to us what’s happening to Kangaroos in Australia and what the film is about. It was very upsetting but I really want to watch the film to learn more and spread the message!

I had such a great day and was so happy I was able to go with my girl Tanekka! It can be a pretty lonely life as a blogger, constantly attending events and places by yourself (queue the worlds smallest violin) so it's such a nice treat when you can actually enjoy these moments with someone who shares your beliefs and principles and can make these times even more fun! Can't wait for our next vegan day trip together :D watch this space guys, vegan girlbosses are taking over the world!!!