Texas VegFest

I love love love the vegan community! What a wonderful selection of vendors this year. We got to try so many types of vegan goodies - dumplings, nugget, donuts, ice cream, etc. The set up is very spacious and clean too. A wonderful way to spend a Saturday afternoon all around.

My lunch at Texas VegFest was the Happy Vegan combo plate - Mac'n'cheese, chickpea-kale salad, and lentil-sweet potato casserole. Sooooo good! Each one is amazing and that alone made the trip worthwhile. Happy Vegan, when will you open a food truck?! Strangely, the Happy Vegan booth was located off on its own, not with all the other food vendors. It would have been really helpful if the booth layout was a bit more organized for vendor types. My favorites were the vegan marshmallows (100% true to form) and vegan honey (delicious with a subtle apple flavor). Sweet Ritual ice cream was also really really good. VegFest let me easily sample several local vegan vendors that I had never been to, and if you can go with friends it's even easier to buy one item and split across everyone. Samples were plentiful, and they really packed a large number of different vendors in. I understand this was only the third VegFest, but their choice of vendors was odd at times. Overall, I really expected to see more of the whole-food based hot food options like Happy Vegan and Aster's. Overall, it was carb and fake-meat heavy, very commercialized. I'd like to see more whole food options and and less processed food and supplements. Put in some things like people selling herbs in pots, perfect for any vegan. I visited the Zilker Garden festival the week before and Texas VegFest would benefit from a good dose of "garden festival" and "farmer's market". I'd really love to see them expand to both Saturday and Sunday, too, as is typical for Austin festivals. A yummy way to spend a Saturday afternoon.

2017's vegfest got even better! It has been in the works for a few years now (6 to be exact) so I was really not holding my breath for the past couple of years but I think it has finally caught up to all the hype and could possibly be categorized as "not overrated." There were a handful of food trucks who were there and a lot of new guys stepping up and bringing some game to the table. We got to try vegan cheeseburgers, hotdogs, chili dogs, popsicles, icecream, coffee, pastries, macncheese, kale chips, veggie chips .. and even got to get henna done! There was live music and tons of free samples. I do hope that maybe they can start bringing in fresh vegetable vendors. It is a bit tiring to see all of these processed foods, although that is what is hardest to find if you are a vegan I suppose. I also hope they can maybe run it for more than just one day. As it is .. they only open on Saturday and for the time of year they chose it probably means you have to give something else up or cut things short here. It's still a cool concept and I hope to see them grow more and more. I hope to make it to many more of these in the future. Parking is not hard to find if you don't mind walking a bit. If you do mind then just come a little early and you won't have any trouble finding parking. They had really awesome port-a-potties and even provided sinks with a foot pump that you could use to wash your hands with SOAP!!

I was so disappointed in Texas Vegfest 2013. If you have the opportunity to promote the inevitability of plant-based dieting among the vast savvy & educated populace of Austin, don't blow it with a self-congratulatory one-day happy fest of thin white people sampling faux-scallop concoctions. Here's a secret: Real vegans eat real food. Oh look, they had one Nissan Leaf on display. Tell you what - make a presentation to Nissan, convince them to be an underwriter for this, bring 100 Nissan Leafs here, and promote the gas out of it. Why wouldn't that be a win-win for everyone? Of course Arlo's is great, and every veghead in town already knows that. Maybe that's why his trailer line was 10-deep throughout the day. Here's an idea: Put up a whole row of Arlo's, along with displays from every one of those environmentally-conscious farmers I see at the mall on Saturday mornings. That's the real world of Austin's vegetarians and vegans these days. I get that this is only the second Texas VegFest, it's a work in progress, and it's going to get better. I also know I can be an impatient Bag o' Dicks when dealing with the obvious. I'm just not convinced I'm the only one who felt this way about this year's event. All I'm saying is step away from the tofu hugging tree for one brief moment, consider what could be done to make Texas VegFest the best thing ever, and then make it happen. I think Austin would literally eat it up. Along with faux-scallops.

I feel like VegFest should have vegetables. You know, like those things vegans eat. Not booth after booth of over processed soy products. (And clever, all those trailers bumping the price of their items up two bucks. Sneaky!)

First time attending the Texas Vegfest in Austin. I live in Houston & usually attend the Houston Vegfest. This year however, Houston Vegfest was cancelled so basically a no brainer. My weakness was all the food available. Lots of new food to try since I usually don't visit Austin too often. Pastries everywhere, Mango chili lime donut was incredible from Red Rabbit Cooperative bakery. To bad they were only a few donuts left when I got there, if not trust me I would have bought some more. There were lots of vendors & food trucks. Arlo's was packed all day long. I liteally waited in line for 45 mins for a Bac N Cheeze burger which after I ate was contempt with. Delicious! Fiesta Gardens is a nice place to hold this event as well. Next to the river so the scenery was pleasent. I will be attending this event for years to come, definetely worth the drive. Next year I will remember to bring a lawn chair so I can sit close to the Colorado River & enjoy the delicous food oftered at Texas Vegfest.

"I was told there would be vegetables...." That's the entire text of a review I wrote for Texas VegFest, which was just removed by the-powers-that-be "...because it lacks a substantive consumer experience." Well, perhaps I should have gone with "Where's the Beef?". No, I'm not being trite about meat-eating. What I was trying to relate is that the content I was wanting to get out of VegFest is different than what was there. More of it was exercise plans/videos, and supplements, powders, prepared foods, "energy bars", etc. There were also restaurants and food trucks we already go to that had lines three times longer (and in some cases prices higher) than they would any other day of the year (though I'd never pass up a chance to see the lovely and enthusiastic ladies from Sweet Ritual). And we already own a VitaMix. The only people we were excited about seeing was the FoodisFreeProject.org folks who have that little display behind Bouldin. We circled twice and never found their booth (was there a map available that we never saw?). With my wife's recent discovery of her gluten allergy, we were looking for ideas on incorporating more of a vegetarian/vegan lifestyle into our home. Maybe small gardening ideas, or sources for the good stuff (from the ground, not a factory), support of hard-working local farmers. Things like that. We wanted it to be a festival of veggies. And it wasn't. Sure, any afternoon spent with the wife, Errol, and Jenny (and the Littles) is a great afternoon. But maybe April 5th, 2014, we'll just meet at Mr. Natural instead...

This past Saturday was my first time attending the VegFest. I was impressed by the number of venders and the beautiful venue, as well as the unique vegan foods. But where are the vegetables?? Where are the local farmers? I'd also like to see more of these things and less over priced food truck food. I ended up eating a snow cone, and a "corn dawg" mostly out of curiosity. Many of the meal options were places, while good, but from right here in town with a jacked up price. Give us some more unprocessed, whole foods and some chlorophyll in the mix please.

My first real "festival" in Austin. As a vegetarian, I've always found Austin to be a very veggie friendly place, and the turnout at the festival proved that. Lots of booths, with a variety of food. Indian, Mexican, desserts, tea, bodybuilding (yeah, vegan bodybuilding!) etc. It was a perfect way to spend an afternoon. Clear blue skies, Fiesta gardens right by the lake, live music (Which festival in Austin is complete without a live band playing?), good food and good people. The event was pretty well organized, and volunteers were pretty accessible if you needed any help. The booth I was most intrigued with was the VitaMix booth. They make these super fast blenders that can blend just about anything. The lady at the booth made smoothies, sorbets and soup (yeah, soup!) all in a blender. Very interesting, but at $449 its a little outside the amount of money I would spend on a blender. We walked back to the entrance to exit out, and found out we were entitled to a bag of coupons for trying out free stuff. It would've been nice if we had paid attention while we were walking inside and taken that bag, but the food I ate justified the money I spent on it. The cheap side of my conscience will sleep, as it was well fed.

I am neither a vegetarian nor a vegan, though I have many friend who are which is probably how I wound up as Texas Vegfest. I've had a lot of experience in the past with vegetarians and vegans who like to lord their lifestyle choices over you and try to make you feel guilty about not falling into line, but there was none of that here. Everybody was super friendly, welcoming, and inviting. I sampled a bunch of the food (funnel cake, strawberry lemonade, vegetarian Frito pie with vegan cheese, and vegetable fritters, etc.) and it was all unexpectedly good (in that I didn't feel like I was missing out by not having meat). It was a pleasant surprise considering I have bad memories of the vegetarian food my parents subjected me to as a child in the early 90's. Some of the other reviews mention the heat and the difficultly parking and those were certainly legitimate concerns. I grant that some of the trailer food was a bit pricey (supposedly they engaged in the common practice of inflating prices for a festival) but I felt that was offset by the lack of a price of admission. One of the friends I was with (also not a vegetarian) did casually remark that there was a surprisingly lack of vegetables, but unlike some of the other reviewers I found that to be a good thing. If I were on the fence about becoming vegetarian, being bombarded by vegetables would have scared me away. Being shown that the vegetarian/vegan lifestyle isn't scary and that I can still enjoy most of the foods I already love (albeit slightly modified) definitely ingratiates me to their cause. Texas Vegfest certainly has room for improvement, but considering the price of admission (free) and that they haven't been around long (one reviewer stated this was only the second Texas Vegfest), it turned out a lot better than I expected. I'll be looking forward to the next Texas Vegfest!

I am not a big festival-goer! However I was really thrilled to read the plans for Vegfest on their website. Summary of my day~~ The bummers: It was exceptionally HOT outside! "Mist blowers" would have helped a bunch! Parking was scarse but not impossible. I was looking forward to meeting Dr. Lucy - but she was not there - in fact I found no booth/table for them at all! Boo hoo...... There appeared to be a general absence of the 'allergy awareness' community. The awesomeness: The crowd was laid back and Shady venue with A/C to view the speakers. Live music right in the center of it all. I am a big fan of the PPK! I got to get my "Veganomicon" book signed by Isa Chandra - I had hoped also to meet Terry Romero but it just didn't work out. Very awesome venders like: Daiya was there with grilled Daiya sandwich bites and Daiya quesadillas. :) Frozen bananas, So Delicious Ice Cream, so very many - seriously if you like browsing this place was fun! I went to Vegfest in a nice group of adults and kids. This was a really nice family friendly event. There was even a bouncey thing for the kids! I was seriously excited when I heard about vegfest! I am glad I went!

I enjoyed VegFest - it gave me an opportunity to see and eat some things that I don't always have access to. Having on site recycling was a huge improvement from last year and working AC in the speaker pavillion was great also. Regarding Vegetables at VegFest - local farmers are likely already committed to the Saturday Morning Farmers Market at Republic Square Park or Sunset Valley. They likely don't have the resources to set up booths at both the farmers markets and at VegFest and if they had to choose, they would (and should) choose the Farmers Market, to support their regular customers (although Johnson's Backyard Garden did have a booth to sign folks up for their CSA). VegFest is not a farmers market - it is an opportunity to see and sample products and services that are either plant-strong and animal friendly that we may not see advertised or be otherwise aware of.

I had a fantastic time at this year's Texas VegFest! I wasn't sure how they would top last year, but they did and then some! I mostly loved all of the positive energy and excitement throughout the park. It was nice to see old friends and make some new ones. There were tons of wonderful vendors with new or tried and true products to sample. There was definitely an emphasis on healthful eating, but there were some fun "sometimes" foods too. There were two local farms represented as well as several whole foods product vendors. And, for those like me with a sweet tooth, there were a variety of dessert products. Also, as a curvy person of color myself, it was really awesome to see people of all ages and backgrounds at the festival. Sometimes it feels like I'm the only vegan with melanin, but, at this festival, I'm reminded that there are vegans from every walk of life. Some of the speakers were of color as well. How awesome is that?! VegFest is a great event for building community and encouraging others to live better, healthier lives.

I enjoyed Vegfest immensely! I am not a vegan, but am always trying to better my diet. I eat a sensible, healthy diet, and love being able to sample foods I see in the grocery. I don't want to plop down money in the store for something I may hate and end up ultimately wasting. This is a great way to give it a try before buying! That being said, I found many tasty new items I intend to purchase. The vendors as well as volunteers were super friendly and helpful. I loved that Austin Energy was there giving away free energy packages, thought that was a good fit for Vegfest. The music was great, I only wish I had been able to stay and listen to more. Will be back next year for sure! @Errol, I saw so many different ethnicities, cultures, and sizes there...definitely not just "thin white people."

So my husband and I have gone the last four years (since it was was around) and the first 3 years were their best. I was not pleased at all this year with the vendors they had, only because it was so much processed and junk food. Nut cheese and vegan "cheese" slices are still processed. .. the first few years there were vegan athletic booths and booths on sports nutrition and supplements. This year there were more animal rights booths and again (like I said) junk food booths. I would say the healthiest booth for whole foods was Skinny Limits.. they were selling raw juice that they do themselves in north Austin everyday, and Johnson backyard.... I feel that this vegfest has so much potential and yet it sales short the impact it could make on new vegetarians and vegans. The process of transitioning isn't finding the same types of foods that you once ate as a meat eater, but yet enriching yourself by learning about whole foods and nutrient dense foods. Now positives i did see: *Indian food *chanting area *kids corner (needs to be expanded GREATLY) *Speakers (were better in the past though) *live music I am hoping next year they bring back the sports nutrition people, and better educators. I will definitely keep going to the Vegfest and supporting it.

Vegfest is a lot of fun. I'm no veg-anything but had a great time this year and last year. Tons of vendors, tons of free samples, and great live music. The people watching is also fantastic. Great for the kids. Easy parking and no lines - rare in Austin.

I had a great time at VegFest last year (their first year) and this year was even better. I was really impressed with how well-run the event was, particularly considering how new it is. It was a great combination of speakers, live music, and vendors. It was a great chance to try new products I had been curious about and even some I had never heard of. Looking forward to next year!

The festival was a smashing success. The speakers were excellent. I liked that I was able to try some local restaurants (Aster's, Bombay Express) but I was disappointed with the restaurants which were missing. The setting was spectacular and the parking was not as bad as I feared. I cannot wait for this festival to grow and become one of the highlights of my year.

Today was awesome! So many delicious options everywhere for vegans and vegetarians. Many vendors such as Arlo's, Krishna Cafe, Vegan yacht, capital bakery all in one spot. I was really impressed, for just $5 donation, I got a bag with lots of samples and coupons. This fest was way better than the Dallas Veggie fest, hands down! Definitely attending again next year! Such a cool vibe!

I think the marker of a successful vegan festival is "did my totally-not-vegan parents have fun?" And you know what -they did! I knew that I would have fun. I've been a vegan for 9 years and living in Austin for 8 of those years. I was definitely among my people. So it was especially heartening that my parents were able to enjoy themselves as much as they did. They loved listening to the live music, the tasty beer on tap from Whole Foods, sampling tons of delicious products they'd never seen before, more baked goods then you can shake a stick at, escaping the heat to listen to some great speakers in the AC, vitamix demos, a kid's area with bouncy house (hey, they're young at heart), and meditation on the water. This festival had everything, and I really can't believe it was only the first year. The Veg Fest folks have set the bar high! I can't wait to drag all of my omni friends next year and say, "No really - my PARENTS had a great time. You'll love it too!"

The food samples were flyin', band were jammin' & I got to see presentations from my favorite vegan personalities. They pulled it off well, especially for a 1st go at it. How did we not have a VegFest already?! This is Austin! Magical oasis of all things vegan! Anyhow, Texas VegFest was a fun day out & an all-around great way to rep the veg lifestyle to Austin festival goers.

Texas VegFest 2013 was great. Last year's VegFest was really good and the organizers had a tough act to follow. They succeeded completely. I didn't get a chance to see many of the speakers this year, I spent most of my time checking out the vendors. The vendors ranged from Johnson's Backyard Garden to Vitamix to Sea Shepherd. There were of course a ton of food vendors as well, such as Austin favorites Arlo's, Sweet Ritual and Bouldin Creek Coffeehouse, along with some out of town vendors such as the Sinfull Bakery and Good Karma Kitchen from Houston. I wish they held Texas Vegfest twice a year.

I drove into VegFest from Houston and I was not disappointed. I am not a vegan but I am curious about the lifestyle and I have been wanting to try something new. Lots of great food (my personal favorite was the bbq tacos from Good Karma) and I really liked the cooking demos. Everyone was very friendly (as always in Austin), the music was fun and the weather was beautiful. I thought the festival was lively and had a good amount of variety and I would definitely go again! It was certainly worth the trip.