This will be a short little post, but I wanted to recognize and celebrate the first Lancaster VegFest that took place yesterday, June 3, 2017! The weather forecast was teasing us for a while, threatening us with rain; but the day ended up being beautiful, with just a touch of toastiness.
For a Baltimore vegan, it’s an easy drive, just about an hour and a half away. I waffled about going, but one of my friends offered to come with me, and I’m always excited to share vegan experiences with my non-vegan friends! Sadly, I goofed on the location of the festival, so wasting 30 minutes to re-route myself ultimately meant we missed the first 100 attendees’ goodie bags. However (and this is a big however), it meant that we were among the first in line at Vegan Treats! While my last experience with Vegan Treats was a bit frustrating (though, it was resolved by fantastic customer service), this experience couldn’t have been more pleasant, and all those working were so kind. Now, how much of that had to do with being early, I can’t say for sure 🙂
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- Vegan Treats at a VegFest. Photo by Megan Griffith.
We meandered a bit at first: saying hello to a friend who was volunteering, petting pigs, getting our caricatures drawn, and sampling some vegan products. There weren’t a ton of vendors set up with tents, and many of those that were there had been very Lancaster-centric. We stopped by a few, and once we worked up an appetite, we headed for the “food court.”
With this festival being the first for the city, I don’t think many of the vendors knew what to expect. Even with about 10 food vendors, the lines were absurd! We overheard Vegan Treats explaining that they didn’t bring as much food as they normally would because they assumed there’d be fewer people for a first-time festival. Indeed, all the vendors were selling out and crossing off menu items every few minutes! It’s a good problem to have, I suppose—that is, an underestimated but serious vegan community to show up in support of vegan businesses!
We first stood in a fairly quick 10-15 minute line for Iraqui Sanbusas from Upohar. They tasted good, but I think both my friend and I were expecting a bit more flavor. We munched on the sanbusas while we then waited in line for hot dogs from Heavenly Hot Dogs. We ordered three! I ordered a BLT-style hot dog with coconut bacon while my friend ordered a tahini spinach hot dog (um, yes!?). Plus, we split a chili dog between us. I sampled her tahini spinach dog as well and all three were delicious! I love me a good vegan dog!
By the time we finished eating (the hot dog line was a good 30-40 minutes long), we were pooped and ready to go. I had hoped to tack on a visit to Root of Lancaster‘s brick-and-mortar location as we departed, but they close down for lunch and re-open for dinner. It was a bummer, but just another reason to come back to the amazing little city of Lancaster, PA!
All-in-all, the festival was fun and filled with yummy food. I look forward to next year’s, which I’m sure will be even bigger and better!
