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Guide To Los Angeles' VegFest 2017

The nonprofit annual vegan food and outdoor festival will be taking place at Woodley Park on April 30, 2017 with a mission to create a fun event that inspires and promotes healthy living, compassion for all animals (including human), and environmental awareness. At VegFest Los Angeles, guests will be able to enjoy over 150 vendors, a global food court, children's entertainment, food demos, animal adoptions, live music and the Oasis Beer and Wine Garden. Additionally, the festival will have inspiring speakers on topics related to the environment, social justice, animal rights and healthy living.
 
VegFest Los Angeles
6004-6076 Woodley Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 91436
www.vegfestla.org

Date: April 30, 2017

VegFest 2017 - verified jarone
(credit: VegFest LA)

Ticket Information

The festival is free, and visitors have the option of parking free street parking or lot parking for $5. The festival is also offering an Oasis Gift Bag package for $75, which will include 1 free customized VegFest Los Angeles 16-ounce beer glass, 1 drink ticket for the Oasis Beer and Wine Garden, a fully loaded gift bag (valued at over $80), access to Fast Pass lane which gives you quick access to the food exhibitors and the Oasis bar and the ability to reserve seats for in the first two rows for the panels and speakers in the VegSpiration Tent, Q&A Hub, and Learning Kitchen.
 
This year there is also a special VegFest Supporter Package ($30), only 250 are available, which gets you access to Fast Pass lane which gives you quick access to the food exhibitors and the Oasis bar and the ability to reserve seats for in the first two rows for the panels and speakers in the VegSpiration Tent, Q&A Hub, and Learning Kitchen.
 
For both packages, please purchase tickets in advance on Eventbrite.

Best Eats & Featured Food
Cena Vegan - verified jarone
(credit: Carmen Santillan)

Cena Vegan
PO Box 412726
Los Angeles, CA 90041
www.cenavegan.com

Located in Eagle Rock, Cena Vegan sells authentically Latin American plant-based meats seasoned with generations-old family recipes and produced in small batches using a proprietary three-step process. Soon to be available in select stores, flavors include: carne asada, pollo asado, al pastor and barbacoa. At VegFest, customers can try their meats in burritos, nachos and street tacos, the latter made with fresh corn tortillas pressed on-site.

Southern Fried Vegan - verified jarone
(credit: Southern Fried Vegan)

Southern Fried Vegan
(619) 251-3812

Southern Fried Vegan is a unique catering and event company specializing in delicious festival foods with a southern twist. When not feeding the masses at festivals throughout the west coast or catering private events, SFV raises money for several non-profit rescue organizations. SFV will offer their popular Build-A-Bowls where customers can create their own meals with many gluten free options. They'll also have Fried Chickun N Waffles and Deep-Fried Cheeze-Steaks. SFV is excited to offer our special brand of soul-food once again at VegFest LA.

Falasophy - verified jarone
(credit: Falasophy)

Falasophy
Food Truck & 4th Street Market, Santa Ana
Orange County & Los Angeles
www.falasophy.com

Falasophy serves Lebanese Street Food in Los Angeles and Orange County at their food truck dubbed the #FalafelChariot, and at their stall in the 4th Street Market in Downtown Santa Ana. Founded by Chief Falasopher Rashad Moumneh, Falasophy focuses on fresh falafel, hummus and more. At Vegfest, they will be serving their spicy modern falafel tacos, classic falafel pita, banh mi falafel pita, and their spicy garlic fries and brussels sprouts.

Scandylous Delights - verified jarone
(credit: Scandylous Delights)

Scandylous Delights
(818) 618-9144

Scandylous Delights brings specialty sweets to Vegans and others with specialized diets with freshly-prepared treats that satisfy anyone's decadent sweet tooth. During VegFest, they will be serving funnel cakes, frappes, frozen lemonade and pretzels along with their freshly made coconut caramel topping. It's one of their best sellers. Top any funnel cake with coconut caramel or go all in and try The Works Funnel Cake and their caramel frappe.

Dreamy Creations - verified jarone
(credit: Dreamy Creations)

Dreamy Creations
19441 Business Center Dr. Unit 114
Northridge, CA, 91324
(818) 882-0120
www.dreamycreations.com

As two time winners of the Food Network's Cupcake Wars, Dreamy Creations specializes in all kinds of cupcakes with options of different sweetness levels. At this year's festival their cupcake truck will serve vegan and gluten free vegan desserts, from regular size cupcakes, to mini assortment packs, to sweet cakes, to new homemade marshmallows and s'mores sandwiches.

Strictlyvegan Vegetarian - verified jarone
(credit: Kimberley Elise)

Strictly Vegan Jamaican Cuisine
(310) 400-4105
www.strictly-vegan.com

Renowned Jamaican chef Leonie McDonald brings an arsenal of meals at Strictly Vegan to her customers. Each dish is created with a mind towards using all natural ingredients that both nourish, and – with help of spices and seasonings native to her home country – create explosions of flavor for the health-conscious foodie. At this year's VegFest, Leonie will be showcasing her Reggae Wraps, alongside Curry Tofu and Love Salad all of which include a very special Caribbean Salsa that was recently featured in the best-selling Ziggy Marley & Family Cookbook. Swing by and try a bite of Leonie's authentic home cooking or young coconut water fresh from the source, you won't be able to stop yourself from shouting, "Ya mon!"

Casa de Brisa - verified jarone
(credit: Brisa Lopez)

Casa de Brisa
www.casadebrisa.com

Casa de Brisa celebrates Mexican culinary roots by sharing not just another food plate, but a nostalgic yet exciting and delicious experience. Building on pre-colonial Mexican food which was mostly based on herbs, vegetables and seeds only, Casa works every day to provide a different angle on Mexican bites that can be healthy, cruelty free and full of sabor. At VegFest, they will be serving their exclusive Mole Nachos or Huarache Delgado which is grilled cactus gem topped with black beans, potatoes with soyrizo, tofu queso fresco, radish slaw and tomatillo salsa.

Ihsans falafel - verified jarone
(credit: Amin Musa)

Ihsan's Falafel
(715) 360-2334
www.authenticfalafels.com

Ihsan's Falafel serves organic, vegan, gluten-free, handmade, Sudanese-style falafels at farmers markets and festivals throughout the Los Angeles area and beyond. At VegFest, they will be serving guests their organic, vegan and gluten free falafels in four offerings, including their whole wheat wrap, collard green wrap, a falafel plate and falafel pieces. The wraps include 5 falafel pieces, arugula, grated carrot, house-made naturally-fermented turnip pickles and a choice of tahini or spicy peanut sauce.

FYH - verified jarone
(credit: Oscar Mendoza)

Follow Your Heart
21825 Sherman Way
Canoga Park, CA 91303
(818) 348-3240
www.followyourheart.com

Marking the 40th anniversary of Follow Your Heart® Vegenaise®, the original egg-free mayo, the Follow Your Heart team will be making parmesan fries at VegFest. Topped with either roasted garlic or Pesto Vegenaise® Gourmet, get them while they're hot and free! If you can't get enough, be sure to stop by the Follow Your Heart® Market & Restaurant in Canoga Park and enjoy home-style lacto-vegetarian comfort food at your leisure.

Leaf Cuisine - verified jarone
(credit: Graeme Fordham Photography)

Leaf Cuisine
828 Pico Blvd
Santa Monica, CA 90405
www.leafcuisine.com

Leaf Cuisine is a plant-based food company specializing in dairy alternative gluten-free products. At VegFest, they will be sampling their line of savory cheesy "Dairy-free Spreads" (Probiotic): Garlicky Herb, Smoky Goudha and Peppery Jack, and their sweeter and denser but still cheesy "NOT Cream Cheese Spreads": classic plain, onion chive and jalapeño lime, along with a sneak peak at several new flavors.

Califia Farms verified jarone
(credit: @CalifiaFarms)

Califa Farms

Califia Farms was founded in 2010 by beverage visionary Greg Steltenpohl and they have been crafting, concocting and cold-brewing ever since. At VegFest, they will be serving some of their innovative, clean, and direct trade Cold Brew Coffee with Almondmilk offerings alongside their refreshing California Citrus juices.

Featured Attractions
VegFest 2017 - verified jarone
(credit: VegFest LA)

This year's festival will not only feature amazing food from 50+ food booths, but there will also be a number of guest speakers, live music and food demos. In addition to Dr. Neal Barnard from the Physicians' Committee for Responsible Medicine and Gene Baur, Author and President of Farm Sanctuary, the festival will also social media superstars such as Rawvana, High Carb Hannah, Koya Webb, Brian Turner, Stella Rae, It's Mandarin, Nina & Randa and more.
 
There will also be cooking demos from PCRM, Mommy Tang, The Heavy Metal Chef among many others. Along with animal adoptions and a Kids' Kingdom, guests can enjoy live music from Nina & Randa, Darden, the Turners, and many others throughout the festival. If you just feel like relaxing and taking in the live music you can visit the oasis Beer and Wine Garden sponsored by Lagunitas Brewing Company, featuring Lagunitas beer, Frey's wines, and the VegFest Skinny Soju drink.

For a Good Cause
The non-profit event, which is volunteer-run, highlights healthy living, the environment, social justice, and animal rights. Proceeds will go towards Towards Freedom, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization whose mission is to inspire people to live with compassion in all areas of their lives, as well as educating the public through educational events and other appropriate avenues on topics such as environmental protection, animal protection and social justice
Jarone Ashkenazi is a freelance writer who covers: restaurants, bars, dating, relationships, sports and other lifestyle topics. View more work at www.jaroneashkenazi.com. Connect with him on Twitter at @JaroneAsh.
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