Who: VN Office Manager Lyndsay Orwig
What: Portland VegFest 2011
Where: Portland, OR
When: September 17 + 18, 2011
Why: To hang out with some cool vegans in the city known as vegan mecca.
The Scoop: I love Portland. I have visited the city a few times—most recently for the first-ever Vida Vegan Con—and every single time I enjoy myself immensely. What can I say, Portland relaxes me—the food is great, the people are nice, and maybe I just have a thing for rainy, cloudy skies.
This past weekend, I was lucky enough to visit this fabulous city in the Northwest in order to table at the Portland VegFest, which took place at the Oregon Convention Center, and was attended by 6,700 people. It's definitely one of the bigger festivals in the US, and there was a ton of free (and delicious) vegan food, as well as awesome speakers, including Wayne Pacelle of HSUS, Grant Butler of The Oregonian, and Dr. Neal Barnard of PCRM.
The crowded convention center.
I had the pleasure to work at the VegNews booth along with past VegNews employee Katie Paul, her husband, Dan Paul, who was also representing HSUS, and VegNews Street Teamer Bronwyn Ewers, who lives in nearby Tigard, OR. We were neighbors with Chicago Soydairy and ecoVegan, both of which have been featured in VegNews and have wonderful products—they were inundated with hungry attendees for the entirety of the show.
Bronwyn, myself, and Katie working the booth.
Though the booth was busy, I was able to break for quick snacks. On Saturday, I bought a plate of delicious Ethiopian food from Sengatera Ethiopian Restaurant, and then on Sunday I picked up some Yellow Tofu Curry and a few Spring Rolls from VegeThai. Both meals were tasty and satisfying, and helped to get me through the rest of the busy day.
My bountiful plate of Ethiopian food. So good!
This was my first time attending the Portland VegFest, and I hope it's not my last. It was truly a fun and successful event, in one of the best US cities. I'll stop gushing now.
1 comment:
Great post. I had the honor of introducing both Wayne Pacelle and Grant Butler at VegFest. Grant's story really spoke to me. I wish all my non-veg friends could have heard him speak. Unfortunately I was running around most of the time doing errands or preparing for my own talk at the end of Sunday, and barely had a chance to see the exhibit hall. Wish I had dropped by to meet you in person there. Maybe next year? Thanks for helping to sponsor VegFest.
Post a Comment