East Midlands (Nottingham) Vegan Festival 2004

[gertvegan]

East Midlands Vegan Festival 2004

To be held at The Council House, Old Market Square, Nottingham. Saturday 11th December. More info to follow. :)

[gertvegan]

Website in progress. www.houseoflife.co.uk/veganfestival/

[Trendygirl]

I have put this infomation on the message board for the Birmingham vegan meet up group. www.vegan.meetup.com I will try to come, maybe organise a bus from Brum. What happends at the festival

[gertvegan]

An update from Ronny of Veggies. (http://www.veggies.org.uk/)

There will be loads of free samples and advice on offer. Around 30 stalls confirmed. Stallholders include: V1 Fast Food, Vegetarian Pot Indian restaurant, Mmm Deli, Ecoworks, Dr Hadwen Trust, Viva!, Nutties Vegan Hampers, House of Life vegan kebabs, Total Liberation footware, Veggies, Sumac Centre, Vegan Society, Amanda's cakes, Save the Newchurch Guinea Pigs, local health food shops, and sample tasting stalls from redwood, Cocoa tree and Honesty Cosmetics.

Any further enquiries can be addressed to: veganfestival@veggies.org.uk

So go spread the word. :)

[tails4wagging]

anyone going?. Meet up somewhere there??

[gertvegan]

We reckon it was a resounding success!

We were thrilled at the turnout (somewhere between 900 and 1,000 people) and people were queueing at the door to get in before the event opened, at 11am. A large proportion of those attending were local shoppers who dropped in on a spur of the moment impulse, which is exactly what we intended. Our approach of marketing the festival locally rather than concentrating on the national vegetarian press, extensive distribution of glossy flyers, and good clear visuals on the day really paid off. Judging by feedback from stallholders, we believe at least half of those coming were not vegetarian.

The 20 minute sheduled talk by Viva! went on for 1½ hours, as they had so many people 'heckling' and asking questions!

'Total Liberation' shoes reported that they were repeatedly asked why their shoes are vegan and other (ie. leather) shoes aren't.

Other stallholders reported that they really enjoyed the chance to engage with the public and talk about their ethics and products.

Over 150 recipe sheets for vegan cakes were printed, and they all went. The info stalls reported a strong interest in their books, and take up of leaflets was very high.

Feedback from those attending suggests that the vegetarians and vegans were delighted to see so many sympathetic stalls and businesses, and those who had previously been feeling a bit isolated left buzzing with enthusiasm and renewed confidence. Those attending who weren't vegan or veggie left feeling very inspired.

We didn't get everything right, and intend to have a full debriefing session in order to learn from this event and make the next one even better. Particular weak points were prior communication with stallholders, some tables being left empty, and effective collection of donations on the door. We can iron these shortcomings out. Comments and constuctive feedback from those who attended would be very welcome.

Special thanks are due to:

Nottingham City Council for providing us with such a beautiful venue, and for being so helpful and approachable throughout.

The Nottingham Evening Post and Trent FM for giving us such good prior publicity.

Local Sumac Centre supporters and animal rights activists for turning up to pitch in, and working flat out all day, driving and unloading vehicles, preparing food, and handing out flyers in the cold.

Redwood Foods, for sending us a big case of products to give out as samples.

East Midlands Fine Foods, for all their expertise and contacts.

All the stallholders, for being so downright ethical, excellent and friendly!
We haven't decided when and where our next festival will be held, but we're all fired up with enthusiasm now, so watch this space!