St Albans Vegan Fair will be held for the very first time at the end of month, promising to be for all vegans, vegan-curious or those who enjoy trying new things

The fair, on August 27 in the Westminster Lodge Leisure Centre, between 10 am and 4pm, will have more than 60 stalls with a vast range of vegan snacks, hot foods, desserts, drinks, cooking ingredients, ready-made meals, spices, vegan clothing, jewellery and accessories.

Businesses from St Albans, Luton, Milton Keynes, Northampton and London will be involved in the event as well as from as far away as Swansea or Hull. The idea of the event is to spread veganism and to show society the variety and taste of vegan foods and also to encourage and support vegan businesses.

The event is organized by Vente Viteikaite who is Lithuanian but has lived in the UK for more than four years and has organized several vegan events in her home country. The most successful so far was VegFest LT Summer Festival organized earlier this year with more than 5,000 visitors in the capital Vilnius.

“I was inspired by the VegFest UK festival I visited three years ago and decided to bring it to Lithuania. We do three events in a year - VegFest LT Summer Festival, VegFest LT Christmas Fair in Vilnius and VegFest LT Kaunas, which in the second biggest city in Lithuania,” says Vente.

St Albans Fair will be her first event in the UK, she tells me: “I’m very nervous, but the response from the community is great. I feel a lot of support.”

Vente has been vegan for more than six years and became one when living in Turkey. She explains: “I was very interested in healthy life-style and all reliable sources were showing the same – plant based wholefood diet is the healthiest for humans.”

It’s predicted that by the year of 2024 the global vegan cheese market will be worth more than £3 billion and already now more than half of UK’s food start-ups are vegan.

“You can find new products in supermarkets almost every week,” Vente tells me. “The choice of vegan meat and cheese is huge. “I do a lot of Turkish food, as Turkey is where I became vegan and learned how to cook vegan.”

Since she changed her lifestyle she informs me she has more energy, better sleep and doesn’t get colds anymore: “I’d recommend it to everyone, it feels great. Please come to the fair and you’ll be surprised by what’s on offer.”

More information about event is here: https://www.facebook.com/events/2366839796875748/