Vida Vegan Con Launching First-Ever Vegan Bazaar
Conferences are the best part of any profession. From big-name speakers to brainstorming sessions, these assemblages are all about curious minds and cutting-edge info. That’s the idea behind Vida Vegan Con, an annual gathering of folks committed to living, breathing and creating content around a plant-based lifestyle.
The Austin-based event, which launched in 2011, is a thrill ride of educational fun, from panels to workshops, and it’s attended by more than 200 vegan content creators, bloggers, cookbook authors, business owners, social media users and community members from all over the world.
In addition to the usual two-day professional conference, the Vida Vegan Con team has added something new this year: the Vegan Bazaar, a kick off event that’s open to the public and chock full of herbivorous awesomeness.
Breakfast tacos from The Vegan Nom. YUM.
The first-ever bazaar will feature 150+ vegan vendors, food trucks (including Cool Beans and Vegan Nom, set to pull up right outside the venue), the Earth Balance Naturals photobooth, a vegan bar and signature cocktails, live demos by Fran Costigan, Queen of Vegan Desserts and Bianca Phillips, author of Vegan Crunk, Cookin’ Crunk in the Dirty South, two special panels, appearances by Terry Hope Romero, Gene Baur, and likely all of the Vida Vegan Con speakers plus all kinds of samples. It’s taking place at Austin’s Marchesa Hall & Theatre, and runs from 1 to 7 p.m. on Friday, May 29.
The conference itself, which runs Saturday and Sunday, May 30 and 21, boasts an impressive lineup of speakers and events, including talks by Miyoko Schinner of Miyoko’s Kitchen, Brian Patton of The Sexy Vegan, Gena Hamshaw of Choosing Raw and lots of others.
Co-founders and Directors Janessa Philemon-Kerp, Jess Sconé and Michele Truty are the dedicated advocates behind the Con. We asked the ladies what they’re hyped for about this year’s event:
What are you most excited about for the 2015 lineup?
Janessa: I’m excited about having a diverse variety of expertise, from social justice to branding & design, to food photography. I feel like we’ve got the experts in the fields we wanted, and I’m excited to share that with people.
Michele: Over the past few years, the online vegan community has evolved and expanded to meet the needs of a growing vegan population. We’ve been able to create a curriculum to address this shift.
Jess: Where else can you see a lineup like this in one place? We start planning this conference two years out for a reason and have done it so far on a totally open call, application process. From Bryant Terry to Randi Milgram to Fran Costigan and Terry Hope Romero and twentysomething others, every single one of our speakers is rad!
Better scoop up some tickets before they’re sold out.
Vida Vegan Con takes place from May 29 through 31, 2015, in Austin, Texas. The Vegan Bazaar is open to the public, and runs Friday, May 29, from 1 to 7 p.m. Tickets are $15. The professional conference runs from Saturday to Sunday May 30 and 21. Tickets are $310 for a private individual, $420 for a corporation. For social media following purposes, you can learn more about Vida Vegan Con via Twitter @vidavegancon, Instagram @vidavegancon and Facebook (and through the hashtags #vidavegancon #vvc2015 #vvcIII).
