History
We began putting on vegan events back in 2003 with the first Bristol Vegan Fayre and since then expanded to Brighton, Glasgow and London Olympia during our 21-year history. In that time, we have produced 45 shows including the UK's first vegan trade show and a number of vegan conferences, establishing the shows as the UK's biggest indoor vegan events. Hundreds of thousands of people have visited the events, and thousands of people have gone vegan after visiting, and time and again over the last 2 decades the vegan community has gathered in numbers at Vegfest events to celebrate the best of the vegan way of life.
Recently
Like so many within the events industry (and beyond) we were hit hard 4 years ago, our shows cancelled for 3 years, team disbanded and just surviving. The last 2 years have been brutal for events in general but particularly within the vegan sector, and with so many vegan independents going out, and the big rise in plant-based options across the mainstream, it's been very challenging to keep producing top quality vegan events. We're not alone - it's a familiar problem that many events have faced - a big drop in revenue & a big drop in engagement coupled with escalating costs and increasing contractor and venue demands has made it almost impossible to continue, and sadly many have gone by the wayside.
Solutions
We have worked hard to keep our stall prices within reach for independents, charities and CIC's, and ticket prices likewise, and have sought out sponsorship and grants to support the events in 2024. As a result, all 4 events are looking buoyant and sustainable and should break even in 2025. But for 2024 they are all on a considerable deficit still - and that's why we have launched our Crowdfunder to appeal for help from the broader vegan community to help sustain these shows and ensure a steady platform for 2024 and beyond. With your help now, we will be in a position to continue beyond this year, and we have full confidence in the support of the vegan community.
Match Funding
We are very fortunate to have match funding in place too, meaning your donation is effectively doubled. And by spreading the costs more evenly between traders, visitors, sponsors, the public via a crowdfunder and our match donor, we can achieve the stability, sustainability and continuity that we really need, and help start to regrow again into the rest of this decade.
Achievements
in 2024, with your support we can continue to keep prices affordable, keep attracting traders, visitors and sponsors, and ensure we progress into 2025 and beyond. We need to bridge our deficits and if we can do that, we can continue to achieve on a multitude of levels including
Affordable ticket prices and exhibitors fees
Free tickets for NHS staff
Cut price tickets for 3rd sector workers and low-income families via our ticket partners Tickets for Good
Free stalls & marketing for 10 CIC's/Sanctuaries/Charities
Effective vegan outreach - thousands of people have gone vegan after visiting the shows and many more increased plant based options significantly
Platform up and coming speakers from within the community
Platform vegan community entertainers, performers and artistes
Widespread positive media coverage for veganism
Bringing activists and campaigners together for conferences and summits
Livestreaming our Vegan Party Conference for global access
Supporting vegan independent traders
+ many more benefits!
Support for charities
This year we are supporting the following charities and CIC's with free stalls and/or free marketing , to help them boost support, engagement and funds at a time when its very difficult to afford to do this
Hugletts Wood Sanctuary
Fleecehaven Sanctuary
Vegan Organic Network
Vegan Compassion Group
Vegan Runners
Patch Plays
Art of Compassion Project
Plant Based Councils
Bristol Animal Rights March
Garden Guardians
Shac Justice
Plant the Land Team Gaza
New Website for vegan events and campaigns
With your help and a successful crowdfunder, we will be launching a new website in the summer that features vegan events, campaigns, demos, petitions and other vegan activism, freely available and designed to help boost regional and national vegan community events and campaigns with free listing and promotion, and to help boost activists participation and engagement, and help optimise & amplify these events and campaigns.
Events for 2024
We have 4 events in place for 2024
Bristol Vegan Fayre Spring March 30th 1 day
Bristol Vegan Fayre Summer August 24th 1 day
Vegan Party Conference Sept 28th 29th 2 day
London Vegan Fayre Dec 7th 8th 2 day
2025 and beyond
A successful 2024 will see a solid platform for growth, continuity and stability in 2025 and beyond, allowing us to continue to create top quality vegan events well into the next decade, something we believe is really valuable on a multitude of levels. Your help this month will help us for decades to come, with all the goodness that comes with.
Conclusion
Times are hard and there's never been so many funding requests and demands for people's contributions - so why this one? With your help we can ensure support for so many aspects of the vegan community and continue to grow back and thrive again, and with so many positive benefits that this can bring, alongside our match funding, your donation can be small but go a very long way. Please do assist us at a time when we need it most - quite simply, if we didn't need your help, we wouldn't be asking, But we do, and we are. Thanks for your support.
Testimonies
''It seems like yesterday we attended the very first VegFest on the quayside in Bristol, so many moons ago. Over the years, Tim & his team have tailored their shows to meet the current economic climate, which signals not only do they stay abreast of the times but they care about their stallholders and go the extra mile to ensure the success of their shows.
Here we are today, still depending on their professional, popular shows which offer us the opportunity to raise money for the sanctuary and the platform from which to meet new people and spread the word about what we do.
Vegfest has never failed us! (Personally I would rather chew on stale bread crusts for a year than to not have a stall at their shows).
With the formation of a CIC, Vegfest is evolving. We, like so many others who have journeyed with them are very proud of what they have achieved and are grateful to still be a part of this!''
Wenda Shehata - Hugletts Wood Animal Sanctuary