Vegfest London 2013: … I conquered

Oh, if only I had truly conquered Vegfest! I thought I had done pretty well, but reading through some other blogs, I now wish I could go back and examine all the stalls even more closely.

Still, considering this month’s budget is a little tighter than might have been ideal, and bearing in mind that I don’t like to gorge myself on baked goods (well, in the short term I love it, but I usually regret it a couple of hours later), I think Ben and I made some sensible choices.

Listed in price order from highest to lowest:

3 x Opti3 Omega-3 EPA & DHA capsules, 3 x Vitashine 2500IU Vitamin D3 tablets (£45)

Beauty Without Cruelty make-up bag (£10)

2 x Ladle & Larder chutney (Scotch Bonnet) (£9)

Vegusto wiener sausages (£2.50) and No-Moo Piquant cheese (£4)

2 x Panjaban curry base (Keema and Authentic) (£6)

Coconom ginger coconut sugar (£3)

4 x Goody Good Stuff 25g bags (£1.50)

Arbonne Essentials Chocolate Protein Powder sachet (free sample)

Vive Soy Light and a small bottle of Pip Organic juice (free on arrival)

And we requested a free trial vegetable bag from Farmaround, who I think we will be signing up with for weekly organic, local(ish) and seasonal fruit and vegetable deliveries.

We also spent £5 on five tombola entries – they had a great tombola system where you pay £1 for a ticket, pick your raffle ticket and depending on what number you draw, you pick your prize from one of three different categories. I’m used to tombolas where you buy a number of tickets then walk away and forget about it, hoping to hear at the end of the weekend whether you have won a prize or not, but this was so much more fun and encouraged us to keep going back to buy more tickets whenever we had spare change! We chose (and got the following for a total of £5 towards Vegfam):

Vega Vegamega-3

Raw Chocolate Company Raw Chocolate Mulberry Bits

VEL Soy Bean Sauce and Tomato Cardamom Sauce

Vivesoy Cappucino Soy Drink

I spoke about the food we ate in my first post, but there are some distinctly absent goodies that I didn’t get around to trying:

I have heard so much about Razzle Dazzle ice creams that when I saw their stall, I knew I was getting some. Unfortunately, I wasn’t in the mood for anything sweet for a while, and when I was, I really wanted a baked good. I tried to persuade myself to get some anyway, but I didn’t want to waste the experience (or my money, or physical wellbeing). So that’ll have to wait for another day.

Although I finally tried some of the Four Girls and a Cupcake goodies, I still have yet to try one of their madeleines… The elusive madeleine… They were only £1, I don’t understand why I didn’t just buy one on the damn day! Again!

I also completely chickened out of trying a JP Turner amazecake. It’s probably for the best as I think it would have destroyed me for 24 hours, but I am still curious. Definitely next time!

I definitely missed a trick by not buying one of the Ananda Foods “Wagon Wheels” or at least their condensed soy milk.

Probably wouldn’t have been a wasted opportunity to buy some Ombar chocolate, or to try one of the many amazing creations from Aneesh Popat a.k.a. The Chocolatier.

To be honest, I knew there was no place for the healthy Honest Carrot savoury snacks in my day, but I do think I should have bought some to take home and enjoy during the week. Luckily they do a number of markets around London, so I’ll catch them when I’m not being overwhelmed with cupcakes and the likes.

Speaking of cupcakes, I was devastated to hear that Cat & the Cream were doing desserts – little pots of tiramisu and cheesecake – and I didn’t try them! I passed by the stand as I wasn’t up for cake or frosting, but totally would have snapped one of those up.

Although I made a conscious decision not to buy any Pudology goodies, I’m not sure it was a wise one as I have been craving their silky chocolate puds ever since. Luckily, they’re stocked in a Waitrose near me so I can rectify that.

Same goes for Ruby Tuesdays who I have had recommended to me, and whose stall I didn’t even see, let alone buy from. Luckily I can hunt them down in London too, and might just do so.

Ben was gutted to miss out on a loaf cake from Global Fusion – we sampled some of their delicious sweet loaves on our first walk around the festival, and Ben knew he would come back to buy one. Unfortunately, by the time we made it back they were sold out! Moral of the story – see it, taste it, buy it!

Lastly, and for once not related to food, I feel very silly for being too shy to ask for a photo with Patrik Baboumian, vegan world-record-holding strong man. I heard of Patrik ages ago via the Vegan Fitness forum, so it was exciting to see him in person. Although he seemed totally down-to-earth, I was struck by an unexpected bout of shyness and didn’t ask to get my picture taken with him (this, of course, has a lot to do with the fact that I don’t like photos of myself, but you know… needs must!).

On the other hand, it was great to unexpectedly run into some fellow Vegan Fitness forum-members and to catch up with them briefly (one of whom I already knew, and two new-to-me faces), and I was happy to see Dori of The Rabbit Hole vegan hair salon and to finally book another much-needed appointment with her.

I am delighted with my choices and purchases, and we both had a great day. My list of vegan treats to sample is dwindling rapidly so I’m sure I will catch up on the above soon! In the meantime, check out these other bloggers’ accounts and read about what they most enjoyed and what they tried out:

A Mummy Too

Charlie Bit My Tofu

Lucy the Vegan

To Happy Vegans

Veganoo Day 1 and Day 2

I can’t wait for the next Vegfest UK – hopefully I will make it to the Brighton edition in March 2014 – and hopefully I will be able to meet some fellow bloggers, tweeters, and readers there!