Toronto's 2nd Annual Vegan Food & Drink Festival will feature vegan comfort food, craft brews, wine and live entertainment!
The biggest vegan event of Summer 2016 is on this Saturday, August 13, 2016 at the Garrision Commons at Fort York! Last year, the Toronto Vegan Food and Drink Festival drew a crowd of 4,000 attendees with over 50 vendors. This year, the event has doubled in size, taking over the entire Garrison Commons, with upwards of 70 vendors. This daylong festival pays homage to a variety of local and international vegan vendors, serving up the very best in comfort food, craft brews, wine and other vegan products.
This year's festival will be hosted by Toronto's Candice Hutchings of the Edgy Veg YouTube Channel. Candice veganizes familiar comfort food and childhood cravings on her channel and is someone who has been a huge inspiration to me within the local vegan community. I was so excited to learn that she would be hosting the festival this year! Candice and I collaborated earlier this year for a round up of our 5 favourite recipes from each other's blogs - you can check out my round up here, and Candice's here.
INSTAGRAM TICKET GIVEAWAY
To celebrate this highly anticipated Toronto event I have teamed up Ecorazzi to host a giveaway on Instagram for 2 tickets. Make sure you check out my post from today to enter by clicking here!
“The team at Ecorazzi is beyond thrilled to be back for our second year here in Toronto to showcase all things vegan,”... “After seeing how well the Vegan Food and Drink Festival was received last summer, we are excited to bring an even bigger and better festival to attendees this year!”
event details
when: Saturday, August 13, 2016
location: 250 Fort York Blvd., Garrison Commons.
time: 11 am to 7 pm
ticket info: General admission tickets are $10 and VIP tickets are $20 (includes 3 drink tokens). Get your vegan squad together because group prices are also available - 4 for $30 and 8 for $55! For more info and to purchase your tickets visit www.vegandrinkfest.com.
what to bring: comfortable walking shoes, a picnic blanket, sunscreen, cash (so you're not waiting in line at the ATM), wet wipes or hand sanitizer, and a reusable water bottle - there will be free refills at the H2O to go station!
The Food
Guests will have the opportunity to taste menu items from the highly anticipated new Yorkville restaurant Planta with renowned chef, David Lee, in attendance. Of course, last year's festival celebrity chef Doug McNish will be back with his next level organic, plant-based creations. I was over the moon to see that Carrots n' Dates, a wonderful vegan cafe from Windsor, Ontario, would be joining the festival this year. Carrots n' Dates was my favourite vegan spot when I lived in Windsor during law school, and I have missed the cafe dearly since moving back to Toronto.
Photo courtesy of The Toronto Vegan Food and Drink Festival.
The festival will also feature one of my vegan besties, Liz Gallagher of Unbaked Cake Co., who is a Toronto-based vegan and talented raw food chef. She makes the most delicious and equally gorgeous raw vegan treats. This year she will be offering her lemon mini tarts, creamsicle mini tarts, oatmeal fudge bars (my personal fave) and mini strawberry cheesecake slices. Make sure you check out her booth, she's offering a special deal for the mini's and fudge bars - 3 for $10!
Unbaked Cake Co., will be featuring raw vegan mini strawberry cheesecake slices at this year's Toronto Vegan Food and Drink Festival. Photo courtesy of Unbaked Cake Co.
My lovely friend Alexandra Courts of Sweet Hart Kitchen will also be at the festival with her beautifully crafted ice cream sandwiches made with chocolate, raspberry, pistachio and cookie dough, as well as her "Snickers" bites (which taste super close to the real thing) and other yummy bites.
Sweet Hart Kitchen will be featuring ice cream sandwiches made with chocolate, raspberry, pistachio and cookie dough at this year's Toronto Vegan Food and Drink Festival. Photo courtesy of Sweet Hart Kitchen.
My friends at Wood and Water Foods, who create handmade, raw, organic and vegan Tree Nut Cheezes, will also be there with their Deep fried Cheeze balls which they'll be serving with BBQ sauce from Yamchops and Jam from Penny Candy. I tried their Cheeze balls during their recipe testing phase and they are epic!
Wood and Water Foods will also be featuring their Deep fried Cheeze balls at the festival which they will be serving with BBQ sauce from Yamchops and Jam from Penny Candy. Photo courtesy of Wood and Water Foods.
If you're in the mood for a healthy salad (to balance out all that vegan junk food) make sure you visit my friends at RawFoodz. They'll be fully stocked with delicious, organic salads, topped with their signature dressings, which are all a raw vegan take on classic dressing styles. It's the only line of dressings that I buy and I highly reccomend it. While you're there make sure you grab RawFoodz's dips, sauces and dressings for the road, they'll be selling full sizes of their delicious products.
My friends at RawFoodz will be serving delicious organic salads at the Vegan Food and Drink Festival - perfect for balancing out all that vegan junk food! Photo courtesy of RawFoodz.
My friends at Good Food For Good will also be at the festival with their fantastic organic vegan Indian and Mexican sauces. With every product purchased Good Food For Good donates a meal to fight world hunger through their partners at Akshaya Patra Foundation which provides underprivileged children in India with a healthy, balanced meal that they would otherwise have to work for.
vegan food from south of the border
Hailing all the way from Austin Texas, Vegan Nom, Texas' first all vegan taco food truck and Arlo's, who serves vegan comfort food in a bistro style setting for the Austin nightlife scene. Upton's Breakroom, the factory cafe of Chicago's Upton's Naturals (known for their delicious seitan and pulled jackfruit products) will also be in attendance, serving up loaded nachos and 'bacon' mac and 'cheese'. Of course, last year's festival favourite, the Vegan Big Mac will be back this year, from L.A.'s Doomie’s Home Cooking, who recently opened a Toronto location on Queen West. Clean South from L.A. will also be joining the event with their 100% vegan comfort food.
The Vegan Big Mac from L.A.'s Doomie’s Home Cooking. Photo courtesy of The Toronto Vegan Food and Drink Festival.
Drinks.. because vodka IS vegan
You might be surprised to learn that many types of alcohol use animal products during processing. But have no fear, the Vegan Food and Drink Festival has you covered with local and vegan craft brews and wine. My friends at Well Juicery will also be featuring cold pressed juice infused cocktails (as well their regular juices too).
Grab cold pressed juice infused cocktails from Well Juicery at the festival (as well their regular juices too). Photo courtesy of Well Juicery.
Cruelty-free fashion + beauty
Marcus from allTRUEist, a Montreal-based Ethical Designer Boutique, will be back at the festival this year with beautiful cruelty-free handmade handbags, jewelry, beauty products and accessories.
There are really too many fantastic vendors to name, so make sure you check out the complete list of vendors here.
Live Entertainment
This festival wouldn't be complete without live performances by local vegan artists including, Marcio Novelli, Matt Zaddy, Meghan Morrison, Courtney Stone and rapper, Gaiaisi. The show will close with a special headlining performance from Atlas Genius, an Australian indie rock band best known for their smash radio hit "Trojans".
The Vegan Food and Drink Festival is proud to support local vegan artists. Photo courtesy of The Toronto Vegan Food and Drink Festival.
I'll be rocking my Love Wild Live Free T-shirt at the festival, so if you see me around please come say hi, I would love to meet you!
Much love,
#LoveWildLiveFree
To learn more about The Toronto Vegan Food and Drink Festival check out their official website, Facebook page, Instagram and Twitter accounts.
This post was in collaboration with Ecorazzi and The Toronto Vegan Food and Drink Festival. This is an unpaid endorsement. I only share content about events and products that are vegan and of the highest integrity.
To work with Avra and Love Wild Live Free on collaborations, reviews and sponsored posts please get in touch on the Contact page!