The entrance of the fairgrounds was blocked by construction and no detour signs were posted. I've never in my life seen so many vegans, herbivores, vegetarians, and animal rights advocates in one place. The turnout was huge and it started up in complete chaos and confusion. The entry line went around the parking lot. It looked like the number of people was much greater than anticipated. Ironically, we were treated like livestock with long disorganized lines and holding areas with no room to move. I felt like one of the chickens in the vegan documentaries. But I made the best of it and found some wonderful treasures to share with you.
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| The massive crowd at VegFest Nashville 2019 |
My first stop was at the Core + Rind Cashew Cheesy Sauce table to get free samples. They had three flavors; Spicy Chipotle, Smoky, and Original. Each was fantastic in very different ways, and I could not pick a favorite.
In this first vegan food photograph you see my first snack of the event. I got a jackfruit slider with potato salad from the Sunflower Cafe table. It was excellent in every way!
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| Barbecue Jackfruit Slider and potato salad by Sunflower Cafe |
I tried to make my way around to see everything, but the crowd was massive. I could barely see the vending tables right in front of me. After squeezing my way though the crowd I found peace in the lecture area and stayed a while.
I caught the interesting and enlightening talk by JL Fields (culinary instructor/cookbook author) and Andy Tabor (Compassion Company/The Bearded Vegans) about body shaming and food shaming within the vegan community and in general public. This was an important message that should be heard by more people. I hope they continue discussing those topics to create greater understanding and unity.
I went back out for another snack. This time I found The Wild Muffin and bought a lemon poppy muffin. It was light, fluffy, delicious, and not too sweet. Perfect!
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| Lemon Poppy muffin by The Wild Muffin |
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| Lemon Poppy muffin by The Wild Muffin |
I couldn't end it there. I wanted to experience more plant-based pleasures. I tried to get vegan tacos at Succulent Vegan Tacos, but the menu was too small to see and I got stuck in the long pick-up line instead of the long order line. I gave up.
Before I knew it, much of the food was gone. The Wild Cow's table would have been my next stop, but they completely sold out of the vegan lobster hoagies they were serving.
My only good option at that point was to try the barbecue jackfruit sandwich and potato salad at Avo. I really didn't want to eat the same thing again, but I'm glad I did. It was awesome! It was slightly better than the Sunflower Cafe slider combo, mostly because of the tastier bun and the heavier herbs in the potato salad.
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| Jackfruit Barbecue Slider and potato salad by Avo |
This was a good event but the location was not right. It would have been better in the parking lot of the football stadium. If the event is in the same place next year, I will surely not attend. The fairgrounds building is primitive and still smells like farm animals when the air conditioning comes on. The building's floor plan is like a Halloween corn maze or haunted house. The number of participants was too great for the narrow side aisles. The dining area was too small. However, I wish not to leave you with negative comments. I did enjoy the food, I gathered some good product coupons, and I shared an experience with good people. I hope to attend other similarly themed events in the near future.
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