This weekend, I attended Phoenixville’s first VegFest with my husband and two of our friends. Phoenixville VegFest is a vegan food and street festival that was sponsored by the Peace Advocacy Network. You may remember that last year I attended the Bethlehem VegFest, which is an annual event and more established. When I heard that Phoenixville was hosting a festival, I knew I had to attend! I was not disappointed. Disclaimer: All pictures were taken with my cell phone, so please excuse the quality! I need to start remembering to bring my camera places.
A variety of vendors attended including Vegan Treats (THE best bakery), Pig Placement Network, Green Mountain Energy, Heavenly Hot Dogs, OMG Smoothies, Cloud Nine Organics along with many others. Local restaurants highlighted their regular vegan menus (shout out to my two favorites- The Great American Pub and Thai L’Elephant), and some restaurants created special vegan menu items for the festival. Gangster Vegan Organics, Phoenixville’s first all-vegan eatery, held a “soft opening” of their new location (their first location is in Norristown, PA).
So what did we do at the festival? We walked around to see the various vendors; sampled some awesome food items—like raw krauts, mushroom jerky, and a variety of nutbutters; grabbed some lunch, and stocked up on Vegan Treats!
For lunch, we had LUHV Food Black Bean Burgers (w/ lettuce, tomato, vegan cheese, and vegan mayo), served with a pickle and chips. The burger itself was good, but I just can’t get behind vegan cheese. I’d rather have no cheese than vegan cheese, so I ended up picking it off and eating the burger without it. I’m having some regrets about not trying out The Great American Pub’s vegan special for the day, which was BBQ Pulled Sweet Potato, because it sounds amazing and I’m hoping they decide to keep it on their menu so that I can try it later.
After lunch, I grabbed a Ginger Lemonade (delicious) and waited in line for Vegan Treats. My parents were coming for dinner that night, so I bought SO MUCH so that we could all sample the treats (and I knew it wouldn’t be sitting around tempting me). I bought: a peanut butter bomb (the greatest dessert in the history of the universe), 2 black bottom cream cheese brownies, a cookie dough brownie, and 2 donuts- one glazed and one cinnamon sugar. Everything was amazing but my 2 favorites were the peanut butter bomb (obviously), and the black bottom brownies.
If you are a vegan, vegetarian, or plant-based curious, keep your eye out for a VegFest near you. I’m sure Phoenixville will host another one next year, as this first one was a great success. It’s nice to know that I live near an area that is becoming more open-minded about plant-based eating and I hope the success of VegFest helps more restaurants in the area expand their offerings to include more vegan and vegetarian options.
