Vegan Street Fair!
Well hello there. I’ve emerged from my writer’s hibernation (no, that’s not really a thing- my life has just been terribly out of balance recently), to talk about the Vegan Street Fair that happened a couple of weekends ago in LA. It was- in a word- amazing.
Overwhelmed, right from the start
Fun fact: I do not live in LA. But I decided that this event was worth the 4 hour drive from Vegas to enjoy the magic of a festival ALL ABOUT vegan food. Obviously. So I grabbed two other vegan friends and my non-vegan bestie and we embarked on what turned out to be a very long, verrry delicious day.
I’d never been to a vegan fest of any kind before and honestly didn’t know what to expect, but oh. Oh wow. The funny thing is that we came into the fair at an angle that didn’t have much traffic. Maybe 6 food trucks and a few long lines, but it made it look like a fairly small event. My first thought was this is it? but as we turned the corner, I saw everything I’d been dreaming of. And so much more.
Two unicorns and a horse
We got free Parmesan fries from the Follow Your Heart booth (LOVE them), along with a free vegan egg sample pack and more FYH swag. We chugged down flavorful kombucha, ate potato tornadoes, tasted the vegan versions of Cajun and Indian cuisine, shared a Beyond Burger, and ate more sweets than we probably should have.
The nice thing is that the many, many booths of VSF had small bite-sized, appropriately priced servings. So while we ate a huge variety, we didn’t break the bank in the slightest! And though we left full, it wasn’t the awful full-to-bursting feeling.
Pretty sure I still have dreams about the potato tornado
And the merch! That’s something I would have (should have??) spent all my money on, but how could I have picked just one vegan tee/tote/sweatshirt? Maybe next time.
What made my heart soar was just seeing the sheer amount of people that came out for the fest. Because holy crap. And they were all wearing really great vegan swag. That’s California for ya. It was so encouraging- coming from Vegas, where there are a decent selection of vegan options but a lack of vegan social events + community- to see all the people (vegan or not) that came out to enjoy the festival. Just knowing that more people are embracing the vegan lifestyle (or even just eating more vegan food) makes me feel pretty damn good inside.
After the festival, we decided to go to the beach. I mean, how could we drive all that way (from the middle of the desert, no less), and not go to the beach. Nevermind the cold water, nevermind that it was another hour away and we still had another long drive home ahead of us. We went to the beach. And it was glorious.
Santa Monica seemed like a no brainer, probably because it’s the one beach we’d all been to the most. We stuck our toes in the water, cursed ourselves for not having money to rent bikes for some beach cruising, and just felt overall refreshed and happy at the day.
Somehow the little beach jaunt left us all starving. Veggie Grill was the only solution. I’m still eagerly awaiting the day that Vegas gets a Veggie Grill. I would give them MORE than enough business with my frequent patronage. They are so damn good. And it felt amazing to just sit down and really eat a meal after sampling what we could at the fair.
It wound up being the perfect day. Good food, happy vibes, and even better friends. I would do it all again every single weekend if I could (maybe if someone else did all the driving, more likely). I’m definitely still getting food envy from all the pictures I see posted of what others ate at the fair. Some lines were just too ridiculously long, but it sure looks like it was worth it.
Can I get married in a Veggie Grill? Or to a Veggie Grill?
