Vegan Food Fest returns to downtown
Now-quarterly festival to host more than 50 food, drink vendors at Wall Street Plaza
Newer, bigger and now officially quarterly, the International Vegan Food Festival returns to Wall Street Plaza in downtown Orlando 3-8 p.m. July 15.
“Being in the heart of downtown has been an experience in that we have been able to reach a diverse group of people,” says the event’s creator, Jeremy
Santos (who’s known in local plant-based circles as The Bearded Vegan). “Twenty-five percent [of the attendance] has been local traffic who didn’t even come for the event but found it and had a good time.”
This will be the third soiree and the biggest yet, with more than 50 vendors — small businesses with cuisines repping Brazil, the Caribbean, Korea, Italy, India, America and more. Along with the eats, local craftspeople, a live DJ and multiple bars will round out the vibe, which is both pet- and family-friendly.
“We’re keeping the same format and expanding,” says Santos, who’s signed on some new vendors, including The Dutch Fry, which features food from the Netherlands and the Vegan Gator food truck from Gainesville, serving up plant-based burgers, “chicken” sandwiches and more.
“We’re also bringing back the VIP early entry option, which allows you to get in an hour early and we’ve expanded the upstairs lounge to include a dedicated, private bartender and covered seating,” Santos notes. Fans of the previous events have not only this third installment but have prompted the hosts to make this a quarterly thing which will continue under the sponsorship of the Orlando Downtown Development Board.
Some other features are being discussed for future festivals.
General admission to the festival is free (guests will pay vendors for their food and drink items), and VIP admission runs $25. For more information on both, along with other festival details, visit eventbrite. com/e/international-vegan-food-festival-tickets-643168703907.