Don't forget to enter our fundraiser to win a weekend trip to The Stanford Inn. It's easy, click the enter now button below. :)

Tuesday Thoughts

I didn't think I would get this done today. I went to Detroit this past weekend for a very quick trip (Friday to Sunday am). What I didn't anticipate was coming home with covid. I'm thrilled and honestly, I am not feeling too horribly. I got sick this afternoon, out of the blue, but took meds and thankfully that passed and now I am back to how I felt before that happened. This is my second time having covid. I hope that I wake up tomorrow feeling better than today, because for the most part, I feel better than I did yesterday. I couldn't keep my eyes open yesterday.

The biggest issue with being sick and being tired is the amount of work I need to get done for Georgia Vegfest. I am 19 days away and I have SO MUCH TO DO! A positive about being laid up is that I am getting work done. Social media posts are coming your way to highlight our Georgia vendors and sponsors. :)

While in Detroit I wanted to do something that would be a great use of my time. I looked up animal sanctuaries and I found SASHA Farm Animal Sanctuary in Manchester, MI. They are around 50 minutes from the Detroit Airport. I asked them if I could come visit and take video then create a video for them so they could use that to raise money and recruit volunteers. I was thrilled when they said yes! What an amazing place. They have around 150 animals in their care and I got to meet almost all of them. I got to call cows and they came for me. I brought home peacock feathers. I also can't wait to share the video with all of you. Please follow and support them. They are one of the oldest sanctuaries in the country.

Thanks to Daniel Turbert, he suggested I visit his friend Dan McKernan at Barn Sanctuary. I looked up the location and found that they were only 25 minutes from SASHA. I was able to visit two amazing sanctuaries in one day. It seems that Barn is fond of taking in animals that are special needs. Doesn't that make you love them even more? It was a shorter visit, but Dan is planning on coming to Asheville to be part of our dedicated education day on October 5. How awesome is that??

Both of these sanctuaries have 60 acres. The cows and pigs have so much land to roam. I wanted to do something good with my time and this truly was just that.

Another thing I wanted to do in Detroit was get Detroit pizza. All I can say is YUM! I went to Pie Sci Pizza. They are not an all vegan pizza place, but super vegan friendly. I wanted something different so I chose the So Fresco So Clean pie, garlic oil, tajin chili-lime crust, vegan cheese, vegan herb mayo, corn, cilantro, and lime. I also ordered the vegan cheese bread with the vegan herb mayo on the side. This did not disappoint. I'm also thankful because I was able to eat my leftovers after the wedding I went to on Saturday night. The wedding was great, the food was eh. My Cousin Ellen joined me for dinner and she also enjoyed the pizza then my brother ate a slice later that night too. Don't skip this place if you're in Detroit!

Thanks to our Sponsors & Vendors

A new to us, but possibly not new to you vendor will be joining us in Atlanta. Vegan Power Co has all sorts of cool stuff to purchase. Woman owned and LGBTQ+ owned too.

There are many reasons to support our vendors. We want to see these small businesses thrive and they can't do that without our and your support. Check out their website and join us in Atlanta on August 25.

Win Cool Prizes

Unisoy Jerky, Chef Pure Foods, and Georgia Vegfest are joining forces to offer a giveaway on Instagram. Unisoy will be giving away a four pack of their bold flavor jerky, we are giving away a four pack of tickets for Georgia Vegfest, and Plant Pure Foods will put together a gift basket from their incredible product options. One of my favorites is their Brussels Sprout Jerky. Check out the giveaway reel ahead of everyone else!

Are you following our Instagram pages? Vegfest Expos is the one where we post about everything and anything so make sure you follow and enter to win this awesome prize pack.

Full Circle Farm Sanctuary is our August sponsor and they are the Presenting Sponsor for Georgia Vegfest. I think I need to visit the sanctuary when we are down there. I haven't been yet.

Georgia Vegfest is Next!

Georgia Vegfest in Atlanta is on August 25. Here's a few reasons to join us:

*$15 Swag and Ticket Combo - Limited to 100!

*Free Face Painting

*Story Time with Debra

*Start the day breath work and meditation at 10am (included with your ticket) hosted by @pause2thinknow

*Educational Speakers - Robert Cheeke, Gigi Jones, Judy Hahn, and hosted by V Lynn Hawkins!

*Afternoon Dance Class

*360 photo booth

*Vegan Food from some of your favorites

*Vegan Desserts

*DJ spinning the tunes

*MZ Jazzy Entertaining & Hosting Fun Contests

*Shopping our Awesome Vendors

*Supporting our Presenting Sponsor - Full Circle Farm Sanctuary

*Get your VIP/VIP PLUS/Swag Bags/Donate and more!

*We are still looking for Vendors & Volunteers

Vegan Q&A Time

In this new section, I'm open to receiving any questions you have and answering them on a weekly basis. Hit reply and start sending your questions, they can be food related, interpersonal, whatever. If I feel I can do it justice, I'll post it and answer it. It could be serious or it could be jovial. You'll need to scroll down each week to find out.

Send us your Questions!!

• Send me questions you want me to answer.
• It can be on pretty much anything and not just vegan focused.
• If you want me to write about it, ask!
• Hit reply or send an email to vegfestexpos@gmail.com

Weekly News Items

If you're a vendor and are interested in joining us at any of other events, please click here. Interested in volunteering at our events? Visit our website to choose the events you'd like to volunteer for.

We are using a new system for vendors to sign up but it's also a place where attendees can go to see our vendor maps and follow us to stay up to date on all things Vegfest Expos. Click here and please follow us (you can leave a review too). Vendors can see what festivals are open and easily apply to the festivals you wish to join. We always want you to take advantage of our early bird rates! 

We still need volunteers to assist with the festivals. We especially need help at the end of the day and this is even more so in Asheville. Have you ever thought about wanting to learn how we make all of this happen and want to travel and be a part of our vegfest team? We love our core team and if you feel like this is something you'd be interested in, hit reply and let's chat. 

Georgia Vegfest - August 25, 2024 - Atlanta, GA - Open to vendors

Triangle Vegfest - September 15, 2024 - Durham, NC - Open to vendors

Asheville Veganfest - October 6, 2024 - Asheville, NC - Open to vendors

Vegan Food Fest - November 10, 2024 - Knightdale, NC - Open to vendors

TVF Holiday Market - December 1, 2024 - Wake Forest, NC - opening in August

Vegan Mac Cook Off - February 16, 2025 - Durham, NC

Asheville SpringFest - June 22, 2025 - Asheville, NC

Vegfest Expos Local - July 20, 2025 - Durham, NC

Asheville Veganfest - October 5, 2025 - Asheville, NC

Triangle Vegfest Education Day - November 1, 2025 - Durham, NC

Triangle Vegfest Festival Day - November 2, 2025 - Durham, NC

Enter our social media contests this month for a chance to win one of our NINE prizes from our incredible sponsors. If you're not following at least our Vegfest Expos page on Instagram, you need to. The rest of the month, the prizes will be raffled to our VIP/VIP PLUS and to people who buy raffle tickets from our most recent festival(s).

When you win, don't forget to tag us and the company on your social! We want to see your smiling faces. 

Full Circle Farm Sanctuary is our August Sponsor!

Don't forget to follow our social media and to purchase raffle tickets online for a chance to win awesome prize packs from Fabalish, DoJo Fresh, Terraseed, Burny Wild's Adventure Sauce, Trupo Treats, Kathy Hester Cooking Classes, Bitchin' Sauce, and Hodo Foods. 

Let's Get Cooking with our Recipe of the Week: Tempeh Breakfast Bowl

Tempeh is just as delicious as tofu, but it might take some getting used to. Go grab some at the store and make this breakfast bowl. Remember, breakfast for dinner is allowed. Get the recipe here. 

Are you going to make this? Let us know what you think and tag us on your social with a picture of the finished product! #vegfestexposrecipes

Thanks to Kathy Hester for the recipe.