Bethlehem Veg Fest

This year was my second time at the fest. It definitely felt much busier than last year. There were cooking demonstrations, food and food trucks, information, and products.
We decided to try some samples of cleaning products and foods. After, we had infused lemonade and food from the Cinnamon Snail. I wanted some Vegan Treats, but that line was too long, since I can go to the store whenever.
Overall a good festival with good music and food. My only gripe is that I would have liked to have more samples, since I’m not vegan and I’m vegan-​curious.

You would think that there would be more veggies at VegFest. Also I am pretty sure that the pizza from the Pizza Wagon truck had real cheese. There were all kinds of vendors not related to the Vegan or Vegetarian lifestyle. Kind of disappointing.

This was my second vegfest, after this year’s inaugural Philly VegFest, and it did not disappoint. We got there about an hour in at noon, and the lines at Cinnamon Snail were starting to get bad but they moved very quickly. Thank goodness because we were starving, having not eaten in preparation for a day of VegFest binging.
We split an apple turnover and a small spinach pie from the Snail while we waited for our two tempeh sandwiches. The sandwiches came out quickly and we split the Thai tempeh (very spicy but very tasty) and the kale and mustard tempeh (very tasty as well). Both were served on very good millet bread. I would have prefered a little more variety, maybe one on a baguette or something, but overall I was incredibly satisfied. Not too full for more food though! I also noshed on a a bite of a pretzel-​shaped sweet and salty doughnut from Vegan Treats, who had an absolutely wonderful spread of desserts. The doughnut was just ok, I took home two lemon bars that were out of this world good. Finally, I split a vegan cheesesteak empenada with my husband; it was pretty bland. However, it was great to have so many options to try all in one place.
I also purchased two items of clothing: one festival T-​shirt in a gorgeous periwinkle color. The T had a cool saying on the front and a pretty logo on the back, but it’s just a boring straight T, I would’ve prefered a fancy organic washed out cotton. I may have to alter it when I get home, turn it into a boat neck or something like the refashionista (look her up!) Also purchased an absolutely gorgeous open neck turquoise, soft as butter sweatshirt that had a elephant herbivore logo. I’m in love with this item from Grape Cat. Luckily they accepted Visa because I was running out of cash fast at this fest!

I am not a vegetarian or a vegan, but it definitely inspired myself to be one. I am only 16 years old so it was kind of boring for me. With that, it was still cool to see all the different vendors!

Nothing spectacular, but some interesting vendors relating to the vegan lifestyle. Good food choices. We had fun, but based on the size of the event, about a block long, I don’t think I’ll attend again next year.

Better than ever, and all vegan this year. So restaurants had to stretch a bit if they wanted to be there. Incredible speakers like journalist Will Potter, author Victoria Moran, and the owner of Vegan Treats. More animal rescue/​advocacy groups were here this time. You had to fight to be close to the large Vegan Treats tent. We missed the Cinnamon Snail truck with their tender maple bourbon donuts but were charmed by the Pizza Wagon: the best one had cauliflower purée, roasted potatoes, rosemary, and onion, OMG. We will plan better next year to get in on more cooking demonstrations — you can get full with the samples they hand out.
This festival is free, and oh the parade of gorgeous dogs. I paid to get in the pen with piglets of Ross Mill Farm and enjoyed every second of it, even being nibbled because I had just had pizza in my hand. Saw friends from several counties. Just a wonderful friendly vibe. We left with takeout and wish it had gone on longer,
Another good thing is that vendors actually stay until the end and don’t pack up early. I see this expanding. The world is changing for the good, although it can be hard to see sometimes with so much violence and war.

This is a decent enough festival, although it is in many ways completely impossible to differentiate from any other Bethlehem festival. For some reason, the Bethlehem downtown association feels it completely necessary to invite every single business to every single festival, whether or not they fit. What does SubWay have to do with a vegan festival? And the Brew Works gets a stand so they can sell chips and salsa? What a complete waste of space at the festival. Speaking of wastes of space, what does the tables from the local hospitals have to do with anything? Or any of several stands that made precisely zero sense to be there? If the downtown association couldn’t get enough stands that were related to veganism to fill the space, a smaller venue would have been better than filling up the space with complete non-​sequitors.
But at least those vendors had the decency to sell items that were actually vegan. My biggest umbrage with this festival is the fact that people that sell things that are blatantly *not* vegan (like honey, wool, pizza with *cheese* of all things) are given stands. This festival is promoted as a vegan event. People who sell items that exploit animals such as those have places at every other festival the city throws. What purpose would the city have for inviting them to this one? It’s clear the city doesn’t care one stitch about actually promoting veganism or allowing vegans to have a place to celebrate their choices, but rather just finding one more excuse to cash in on the people of the Lehigh Valley.

A must for anyone new to the vegan lifestyle. Wonderful food, speakers, and vendors.
What a wonderful day we had at the VegFest.
We’ve been vegetarians for decades and vegans for 1 week.
We met lots of very nice people and enjoyed some great vegan meals from the food vendors.
Well worth the drive to Bethlehem.