Vegfest: The ABCs of a vegan way of life for beginners to veganism

The weekend of 11th to 12th March sees the 9th annual VegfestUK Brighton event at The Brighton Centre, and the celebrity vegan guest list just seems to get longer every year, with some especially big hitters for 2017.

For far too long, being vegan has been perceived as too difficult for many, even for some of those who identify as animal lovers. As the Easy Veganism area will show, this could not be further from the truth.

Hosted by presenter Karin Ridgers of VeggieVision TV and VegfestUK manager Tim Barford, the Easy Veganism area is made of around a dozen half-hour panel discussions which look at common FAQs.

The area features over a dozen knowledgeable and high-profile star guests who will be answering questions on the basics of being and staying vegan. The vegan experts include actor Peter Egan, actresses Wendy Turner-Webster and Carol Royale, model Victoria Eisermann, snooker player Peter Ebdon, strongman Patrik Baboumian, triathletes Kate Strong and Dave Sheahan, cyclist Christine Vardaros, nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston, YouTubers Vegan Geezer, Hench Herbivore and Earthling Ed, former professional English freerunner Tim Shieff, plus more.

Answering questions on the basics of being and staying vegan

It is the organisers’ aim that visitors to this new area will be inspired by the myriad of ideas on making veganism easy and accessible to many others after the event. All sessions in this area will be filmed and made available on the VegfestUK YouTube channel www.youtube.com/vegfestuktv after the whole event, and BSL sign language interpretation for visitors hard of hearing will also be available for a small number of these sessions on Saturday.

Those wishing to delve deeper into veganism should not miss the dozen cookery demos taking place on both days of the event, as well as kid’s cookery classes for the little ones, a Vloggers Corner with several short films with bite-size information on veganism, plus the 230 stalls loaded with free samples and special discounts.

For more seasoned followers of a vegan way of life, you’ll find further talks on more advanced topics of veganism, an Intersectional Vegan Summit, a Vegan Film Festival, a Teen Zone for teenagers aged 11-19 years old, and a Mature Zone with topics tailored to older vegans, on top of entertainment from live music, a Vegan Comedy Festival on the Sunday, magic shows and more!

Advance tickets are priced at £7 for one day and £10 for the whole weekend, plus booking fees. Advance tickets available at www.brighton.vegfest.co.uk/admission. Tickets on the door cost £10 for adults and £5 for concessions, with kids under 16 getting free entry as long as they are accompanied by adults.