More than 10,000 people attended the annual D.C. VegFest in Yards Park on Sept. 28, enjoying a day packed with food, fun and friends.
The event brought together people with various diets–vegan, gluten-free, meat-based and everything in between–together to celebrate food.
The festival featured more than 100 exhibitions with an abundance of free samples.
Vendors provided free bites of several items that included sausages, cheese, peanut butter (in eight different flavors), probiotic juice, yogurt and tofu curry–all vegan, and often gluten-free.
Many advocacy groups were present at the festival to promote various causes related to veganism. The Humane Society for Animals explained how food processing often leads to the cruel treatment of animals. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) advocated for veganism due to its environmental benefits, health benefits and emphasis on animal rights.
VegFest heavily promoted veganism and vegetarianism as one vendor had tens of books on display whose topics ranged from transitioning into a vegan diet to cooking gluten-free vegan foods. One booth offered vegetarian starter kits, which many people picked up and perused throughout the day.
VegFest also featured guest speakers who entertained the large crowds and touched upon various aspects of adopting a vegan diet.
The VegFest allowed those with vegan and gluten-free diets to eat their hearts’ content while many meat-eaters were pleasantly surprised by the quality of the food and joined in the fun.
thescene@theeagleonline.com
