View from the airport ferry.
Toronto! The big city! Home of the CN Tower, the Toronto Raptors, my brother, and THE BIGGEST VEGETARIAN FOOD FESTIVAL IN NORTH AMERICA! I feel so grateful that I had the opportunity to attend #VegFestTO for the second year in a row. What a dream.
I flew from Halifax on Friday, arriving at the super convenient City Center airport, which is literally a 15 minute walk to the festival. Though the festival started that evening, I wanted to touch base with some old friends first. A vegan lunch at the Vegetarian Haven, a coffee at the Art Gallery of Ontario, a quick meditation session, and a veggie-luck for dinner and I was ready to crash, conserving my energy for the amazing lineup for the festival on Saturday.
I flew from Halifax on Friday, arriving at the super convenient City Center airport, which is literally a 15 minute walk to the festival. Though the festival started that evening, I wanted to touch base with some old friends first. A vegan lunch at the Vegetarian Haven, a coffee at the Art Gallery of Ontario, a quick meditation session, and a veggie-luck for dinner and I was ready to crash, conserving my energy for the amazing lineup for the festival on Saturday.
Just one view of the many vending areas.
Having only been to two of the 28 years of Veg Fest, I'd have to say, this year was the best ever. ;) Presenters included raw vegan chef Doug McNish, Dr. Michael Greger, author Rich Roll of Finding Ultra, my idol Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, vegan cookbook duo Terry Hope Romero and Isa Chandra Moscowitz, Ellen's trainer John Pierre, and many many more. The festival is held downtown Toronto on the waterfront at the Harbourfront Center- a great venue for cooking displays, lectures, food and product vendors, outdoor seating, indoor table browsing, food sampling and music. There was so much to see, that even dedicating my weekend to the festival I was sure to miss a lot- specifically vegan pizza with cashew cheese and kale! (Which vendor had that?!)
I was thrilled that my dad chose to accompany me to the festival on both Saturday and Sunday. He's a proud vegan and like me, took a lot away from his weekend at the festival- more than just vegan cheese, mayo, chocolate, cookies, coconut icecream, VEGA and Lara bar samples. Together we ate delicious raw vegan tacos from Live Organic Food Bar, and on day two it was raw zucchini pasta and kale Cesar salad. He joined me for hours of lectures and though we hate to pick favourites, we both agreed that Rich Roll's talk was by far the most inspiring and uplifting story we've heard in a while- worth the price of the airplane ticket alone!
I was thrilled that my dad chose to accompany me to the festival on both Saturday and Sunday. He's a proud vegan and like me, took a lot away from his weekend at the festival- more than just vegan cheese, mayo, chocolate, cookies, coconut icecream, VEGA and Lara bar samples. Together we ate delicious raw vegan tacos from Live Organic Food Bar, and on day two it was raw zucchini pasta and kale Cesar salad. He joined me for hours of lectures and though we hate to pick favourites, we both agreed that Rich Roll's talk was by far the most inspiring and uplifting story we've heard in a while- worth the price of the airplane ticket alone!
 LIVE Food Bar's delicious raw taco. |  My dad enjoy some of Live's kale chips. |  Lunch on day two- more raw food goodness. |
 Samples, samples, samples! Scored these cute Vegenaise samples. |  My new inspiration, Rich Roll during his amazing talk. |  Free stickers! This one will definitely go on my bumper. |
The Vegetarian Food Festival is a little piece of heaven on Earth for a gal like me. There's a vibe of love and compassion, of change, health, progress and people living their truth and dreams. I didn't catch a picture of the big guy with tattoos wearing his "Real Men Don't Hurt Animals" shirt, or the children running around with their vegan sweets in the sun, or the people lined up giddy with excitement waiting to get their books signed and a photo with their favourite author. This gentle festival, putting health, animals and the environment at the forefront of all interactions, is a place of inspiration. If you're vegan or vegetarian, omnivore or self-declared carnivore, this festival has the ability to change lives and inspire growth. I strongly encourage anyone near and far to put it on their calender for next year and start saving your money! It's worth the trip to Toronto!
A happy me, about to say goodbye to the festival and hop back onto the plane. Thank you VegFestTO 2012! :)