Last Sunday Waits, Jeremy and I had the pleasure of experiencing LA’s newest vegan extravaganza – the LA Vegan Street Fair. Organized by my friend and fellow vegan power-mama Jess from The Vedge, this event is just the latest in a long line of incredible SoCal vegan festivals. And man, I know that when people think “Vegan Mecca”, it’s always New York, Portland, and San Francisco that come to mind.
But I gotta say – I am just continually impressed and delighted by the BURSTING vegan scene that’s happening in Los Angeles right now! Events, meetups, shows, gatherings, so much enthusiasm, and more so than in any of the other cities I’ve experienced – DIVERSITY. It’s truly special and I feel so grateful to be a part of it.
And last weekend’s Vegan Street Fair was no exception. It was packed – and I mean overly-packed, haha, but that’s a good thing right? – with people from all walks of life. Very old and very young, all colors and backgrounds, hipsters and hippies and families and squares, and everything in between. Basically, it was a wide cut of the general overall LA populace, and to me that means just one thing:
Vegan has gone mainstream!
What a wonderful thing to experience. And it really was a wonder of a day, full of catching up with old friends, getting to know new friends (I finally got to meet Laura Yaz from Big Fat Vegan Radio!), and sampling delicious bite-size treats from dozens of SoCal restaurants and vendors (which was like, actually the point of the event).
So without further ado, here’s a few photos from our day:
Like the compulsive early-birds that we are, we arrived bright and early before things really got rolling, and immediately bumped into a big ol’ mess of long-lost friends. Mini reunion!
By noonish the festival was really starting to fill up, as thousands and thousands of vegans swarmed the streets in pursuit of food, friends, and fun (as an aside, please note the height of the rock climbing wall in the background there).
That pic was taken right before the sky opened up and dumped – I mean DUMPED – all over us. It was hailing big icy chunks and Jeremy, Waits and I had to scurry into a Porta Potty to wait out the “winter” weather madness. It was actually kind of fun, and within 10 minutes the worst of it had passed.
Of course, it did continue to rain on and off for the rest of the day. Soggy.
But all in all, it was an absolutely amazing day that far exceeded any of my expectations. And you know what? LA just keeps doing that to me.
So thanks, LA. I think I kind of love you.
And cheers! Cheers to LA and the badass vegan army that’s making it burn brighter than ever. All my love.
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