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W. Mids Vegan Festival - Sat 30th October

Midlands Vegan Campaigns | 14.10.2010 22:00 | Animal Liberation | Health | Birmingham

There's only one place to be on Sat 30th October 2010 - Wolverhampton Civic Hall for the biggest vegan extravaganza ever staged anywhere north of London!
All welcome, admission is just £1 (under 16's free).

Watch a short upbeat promotional film  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wh1puVLpmcs
and check out the event website  http://www.midlandsveganfestival.org.uk

Please request some leaflets/posters to distribute
Please request some leaflets/posters to distribute


Please display a web banner/button
Please display a web banner/button

Vegan actress Roxie Ghawam-Shahidi - Leyla Harding in Emmerdale -will open event
Vegan actress Roxie Ghawam-Shahidi - Leyla Harding in Emmerdale -will open event

last year's festival in the smaller Wulfrun hall
last year's festival in the smaller Wulfrun hall





The biggest annual vegan festival in the UK (outside of London & Bristol) returns to Wolverhampton on Saturday 30th October 2010 and looks set to knock the spots off last year's event!!

The West Midlands Vegan Festival will offer all you need for healthy, cruelty-free, eco-friendly living. You don't have to be vegan to attend, everyone is welcome! Come and see why people are increasingly adopting a vegan lifestyle.

There'll be over 80 stalls offering a huge range of goodies, including cosmetics, clothing, footwear, healthfood, books, gifts and lots of free recipes, nutritional factsheets, health magazines etc. Also a feast of food served up by the best vegan caterers from across the UK, 4 mouth-watering cookery demos, 12 exciting/inspiring talks, kids activities, an all vegan bar, a press-up competition, speed meeting session, an action packed line up of live entertainment from start to finish AND an After Party till midnight!!

There will be free food samples galore, special offers on many stalls and a free goodie bag for the first 200 visitors through the door!

Famous vegan beauty, Roxie Ghawam-Shahidi - who plays 'Leyla Harding' from TV's Emmerdale will open the festival at 11am and she will present the UK Vegan Awards on stage at 1pm!

This is the third year the event has been staged in Wolverhampton. The festivals in 2008 and 2009 each attracted over 1,000 people and the Wulfrun Hall was packed out all day. That's why the 2010 festival is taking place in the much larger Civic Hall.

Whether you want to try a new pair of non-leather shoes before you buy them, gorge yourself on the fantastic feast, learn how to be a healthy vegan, buy cruelty-free gifts for Xmas or chill out with friends enjoying the finest organic, vegan beer whilst listening to some great performers - you can do it all at the West Midlands Vegan Festival.

No other vegan event with so many attractions has ever taken place anywhere north of London. This is truly exciting stuff and you can be there for just £1 admission! (under 16's free)

From 11am-5pm at the Wolves Civic, North Street, Wolverhampton.

For many more details of all of the attractions at this event, please check out the website www.midlandsveganfestival.org.uk and you can follow updates on Facebook, Twitter, Myspace etc.


LEAFLETS and POSTERS

Please contact us, we still have thousands of leaflets and hundreds of posters left!! Help to distribute some in your area.


WEB BANNERS

Please display a web banner on your website, blog, MySpace etc. See our banners here  http://www.veganmidlands.org.uk/festival/banners.html


VOLUNTEER ON THE DAY

Dozens of volunteers are needed to help with the smooth running of the event. Please get in touch if you can help for an hour or two.

Midlands Vegan Campaigns
- Homepage: http://www.midlandsveganfestival.org.uk


Comments

Hide the following 5 comments

Over 80 stalls booked...so far!!

14.10.2010 22:13

The Main Event Caterers

Our caterers will provide a wide variety of scrumptious hot and cold food throughout the day.

ChangeKitchen - www.changekitchen.co.uk

Green Garden Cafe - www.greengardencafe.co.uk

Pritam Sweet - www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=13690702830

Shambhu's - www.shambhus.co.uk

Something Fishy - www.something-fishy.org.uk



Other Food Stalls

Many of the food stalls will offer delicious free samples of their products, whilst also selling packaged food to take home.

Ann's Vegan Cakes - no website

Artisan Preserves - www.artisanpreserves.blogspot.com

Aunty Jee's - www.auntyjees.com

Cadaleah - no website

Cupcake Jo's - www.facebook.com/pages/Cupcake-Jos

Good Oil - www.goodwebsite.co.uk

Goody Good Stuff - www.goodygoodstuff.com

Kara Coconut Milk - www.karadairyfree.com

Le Sojami - www.lesojami.com

Moo Free Chocolates - www.moofreechocolates.com

Mr Popple's Chocolate - www.mrpoppleschocolate.co.uk

One Earth Shop - www.facebook.com/TheOneEarthShop

Our Lizzy Cooking - www.ourlizzy.com

Pitfield Beers - www.pitfieldbeershop.co.uk

Popcorn4u - no website

Provamel - www.provamel.co.uk

Sweetcheeks - www.sweetcheeksltd.co.uk

The Parsnipship - www.theparsnipship.co.uk

The Vegan Cookie Club - www.vegancookieclub.co.uk

The Victoria Sponge Cake Experience - no website

V*EDGE - no website



Vegan Support & Information

Will offer a vast array of information about going and staying vegan, alongside a range of products including books, clothes, vitamin wallcharts etc.

The Movement for Compassionate Living - www.mclveganway.org.uk

Vegan Society - www.vegansociety.com

Vegan Views - www.veganviews.org.uk

Vegetarian Society - www.vegsoc.org

Viva! - www.viva.org.uk

Wolverhampton Vegans & Veggies - www.wolverhamptonvegansandveggies.makessense.co.uk



Vegan Merchandise

A wide range of ethical products will be on offer, everything from cosmetics, toiletries & healthcare, to clothing, shoes and gifts.

All Love and Liberation - www.all-love.co.uk

Amega for Wands / Bioflow / Beauty without Cruelty - www.nopillsrequired.co.uk

Arbonne International - www.arbonneinternational.co.uk

Baby's Bum Premium Natural Soaps - www.babysbumpremiumnaturalsoaps.co.uk

Brackencraft - www.brackencraft.com

Ethical Wares - www.ethicalwares.com

Fair Trade Design - www.fairtradedesign.co.uk

Femmecup - www.femmecup.co.uk

Forever Living Products - www.theflpbiz.com

Freerangers - www.freerangers.co.uk

Greenfinder - www.greenfinder.co.uk

Honesty Cosmetics - www.honestycosmetics.co.uk

Hope Street - www.hope-street.com

Love Me 2 - no website

Green Man - no website

Lucy Rose - www.lucyrose.biz

Lush - www.lush.co.uk

Nanny's Silly Soap Company - www.nannyssillysoap.co.uk



Animal Protection Groups & Sanctuaries

These stalls will feature information on a wide variety of animal cruelty issues, alongside merchandise to help raise much needed funds.

Animal Aid - www.animalaid.org.uk

Animal Equality - www.animalequality.net

Animal Protection Agency - www.apa.org.uk

Birch Hill Dog Rescue - www.birchhilldogrescue.org.uk

Birmingham Hunt Sabs - www.huntsabs.org.uk

Butterfly Conservation - www.butterfly-conservation.org

Captive Animal's Protection Society - www.captiveanimals.org

Coalition to Abolish the Fur Trade - www.caft.org.uk

El Hogar De Luci - www.elhogardeluci.org

Forget-Me-Not Animal Rescue - www.forgetmenotanimalrescue.org.uk

Friends of the Animals - www.friendsoftheanimals.co.uk

Greyhound Action - www.greyhoundaction.co.uk

Hillfields Animal Sanctuary - www.hillfields-animal-sanctuary.com

Labour Animal Welfare Society - www.labouranimalwelfare.org

League against Cruel Sports - www.league.org.uk

PAWING (Pets And Wildlife In Need of Giving) - www.pawing.co.uk

Sea Shepherd Conservation Society - www.seashepherd.org/uk/



Environmental Groups

How to live a more eco-friendly life and environmental campaigning info.

Campaign for Eco-Veg*nism - www.ecoveggie.org.uk

Eco-Architecture & Planning Associates - www.eco-architectureandplanning.com

Friends of the Earth (West Midlands) - www.foe.co.uk

Green Party (West Midlands) - www.westmidlands.greenparty.org.uk



Alternative Therapy

Various relaxing therapies.

Holistically You - www.holisticallyyou.co.uk


Other Stalls

Any stalls that don't quite fit in to one of the other categories!

Maggie Hunter - no website

Our Future World - www.louiseashley.com

Perle de Provence - no website

Tree of Life Magazine - www.treeoflifemagazine.co.uk

Usborne Children's Books - www.usborne.com

Vegan Bodybuilding - www.veganbodybuilding.org

Vegan Runners - www.veganrunners.makessense.co.uk

Water Filter Man - www.waterfilterman.co.uk

Yoga in Daily Life - www.yogaindailylife.org.uk

Midlands Vegan Campaigns
- Homepage: http://www.midlandsveganfestival.org.uk


Talks, workshops & cookery demos

14.10.2010 22:21

The details of many talks and workshops are still to be announced, but here's a taster!


COOKERY DEMOS

Cookery Demo 1 - Simple Healthy Lunch Ideas

With Birgit Kehrer of Birmingham based ChangeKitchen CIC. Birgit is a veggie/vegan event caterer & healthy eating/living trainer. See her website www.changekitchen.co.uk


Cookery Demo 2 - Pumpkins Galore: Celebrate the autumn harvest. Warming recipes for cold dark evenings, using pumpkins and seasonal squashes

With Liz Hughes. Originally from Wolverhampton, Liz was trained by the Cordon Vert School at the Vegetarian Society. She runs Our Lizzy Cookery which is small cookery school based in Malvern, Worcestershire. She is a keen vegan cook and teaches a variety of courses see www.ourlizzy.com
Lizzy will demonstrate how to make a warming Veggie Sausage and Pumpkin Casserole, a perfect Butternut Squash Risotto, and a simple Thai Green Curry with tofu and pumpkin.


Cookery Demo 3 - Raw Vegan Magic!

With Marketa Rozsypalova, Editor of the Tree of Life Holistic Health Magazine & Raw Food Expert www.treeoflifemagazine.co.uk
To prepare raw vegan food is fun, simple & great for your well-being. Your body, mind and soul will love it! Learn how to bring the radiant energy, superhealth and delicious tastes of raw vegan food into your daily life.


TALKS AND WORKSHOPS


Yoga Workshop
With Yoga in Daily Life (Birmingham branch) www.yogaindailylife.org.uk
In our hectic modern world many people are taking 'time out' to practice yoga - a system of philosophy that originated in India 5,000 years ago. Everyone can practice yoga, regardless of age, sex or ability. Yoga offers us a holistic approach to body, mind and spirit, which can provide us with the 'tools' to cope with the challenges of daily life. Yoga can also complement medical science and therapy for specific conditions.


Going Vegan
With Rob Jackson, education officer for The Vegan Society
Starting with a brief introduction to some of the most pressing vegan issues to remind you why you should go vegan. Then, there`ll be a look at some of the easy substitutes for things people usually miss when they go vegan, to help you ease into it. And finally, a question & answer session. This talk will support The Vegan Society`s Vegan Pledge, a new initiative aimed at encouraging people to try veganism for a week, 14 days or 30 days!


Vegan Nutrition
With Amanda Baker, PR & media officer for The Vegan Society
Veganism is not only great for animals and the planet - a well balanced vegan diet is the healthiest there is - for children as well as for adults. Vegans live longer and suffer less from diseases such as hypertension, obesity, coronary artery disease, certain kinds of cancer and diabetes. But as with all diets, nutritional balance is important. Whether you`re already vegan, an aspiring vegan or just vegan curious, this talk will tell you how to avoid the pitfalls and obtain an optimum healthy diet.


Simple to follow health & wellbeing ideas
With Andy Wakeman, a non-medical nutritionist and member of Birmingham Veggies & Vegans
Andy will offer tips on healthy eating, meditation, seed sprouting, yoga, detox, fasting, exercise, juice therapies & more!


Global Food Security & Vegan Agriculture
With Amanda Baker, PR & media officer for The Vegan Society
There will be 9 billion people by 2050, and our planet cannot support us all if we rely upon animal farming. Amanda Baker will outline how plant-based agriculture is a proven sustainable system which can nourish everyone.


The Power of Living Foods
With Pat Reeves, nutritional therapist, world champion powerlifter and author of A Living Miracle
Learn how nutritional therapy & raw living foods can aid your health & may even save your life! By following a raw, living food diet, Pat Reeves has fought off her cancer & achieved what many of us could never dream of. Pat is a world champion powerlifter and holds many other records. She is also an accomplished marathon runner, personal trainer, fitness consultant & author. As a professional practitioner, she has helped many people using up-to-date scientific techniques. Best of all, Pat is vegan!!

Midlands Vegan Campaigns
- Homepage: http://www.midlandsveganfestival.org.uk


Live entertainment throughout the day

14.10.2010 22:24

The festival will include a large cafe/bar room where you can enjoy a variety of music throughout the day from the following bands and performers. The all vegan licensed bar, will be operated by Pitfield Beers, brewers of organic, vegan real ale & cider.

11.20am - Chris Butler - Protest folk singer. For the past 20 years, Chris from Derbyshire has entertained at gigs across the Midlands and beyond. He's vegan and is a very politically motivated songwriter. Where folk meets punk and protest meets resistance. He's shared a stage with Chumbawamba, Eastfield, Robb Johnson and many more... Read more about Chris on his website www.butler1389.fsnet.co.uk

11.55am - Cathy Bryant - A wonderful, new, witty vegan poet who has been really impressing folk round Manchester's poetry scene. Already published by a wide range of local magazines, her vegan poems are warm and funny, touching and memorable- an all-round great writer. www.cathybryant.co.uk

12.20pm - Ellen Cochrane - Ellen is a vegan guitarist from Worcester. She plays Spanish/South American/Celtic classical music.

12.40pm - Jennie B - Songs, poems and tangential conversation. Previously, Jennie from Manchester has sung with the goth-rock band Resurrection and the folk band Spiderwoods. Now, the ethical, eco-warrior Jennie B has gone solo. Hear Jennie's beautiful voice on her Myspace page www.myspace.com/jenniebmusic

1pm - UK Vegan Awards 2010 - Announcement of the winners and presentation of certificates. You can vote until midnight on Thursday 28th October. For further details, see click here

1.35pm - Slow Train - Info coming soon!

2.10pm - 10 O`Clock Horses - Acoustic, folk rock. The 10 O'Clock Horses originally formed in 1996. A group of local friends came together and, after a drunken discussion, decided to blend their musical knowledge together and form a band. Taking the name from a local saying 'Get to bed before the 10'o'clock horses get ya'. See their website www.10oclockhorses.co.uk 2.45pm - Karmafree - A 2 musician band from London. Raw vegans Mara and Dmitry use only vocals and bass, but in conjuction with 2 loop stations, so they sound like a full band! Their music is spiritual, inspiring, uplifting, self help, awakening and happy! Their debut album is out now! Listen to their music on their website www.karmafree.bandcamp.com

3.20pm - Balsall Heathens - An excellent Birmingham double act, with Sam on fiddle and vocal and Jock on guitar. Their style is upbeat, acoustic, folk/punk.  http://www.myspace.com/alcohollicks

3.55pm - Narcoleptic Penguins The band first met on an iceberg off the coast of Greenland in 1924, at that time due to a lack of proper legislation on dumping at sea, a large assortment of detritus passed them by. Being rather inventive fellows, The Penguin recognised the percussive potential of this rubbish immediately and despite a strong current reclaimed their would-be instruments from the sea. Docking into Western Super Mare some months later, starved of fresh fish and Hula Hoops, the band took to the streets to busk a living. Tired of the seaside and longing for the shelter of urban lifestyles, they then relocated to Worcester where they presently reside. www.myspace.com/narcolepticpenguins

4.30pm - Deadmoney Duo - Folk, acoustic and celtic music by vegan father and son team, Peter and Cohen from Worcester. Hear their music here www.myspace.com/deadmoneyduo

Midlands Vegan Campaigns
- Homepage: http://www.midlandsveganfestival.org.uk


Why vegan??

14.10.2010 22:32

There are many reasons for going vegan - just as there are for going vegetarian. Being vegetarian helps enormously in reducing:

animal suffering
risks to our own health
hunger in the developing world
environmental damage

Veganism takes all those advantages a whole lot further. For very many people concerned about any or all of these problems, it seems the natural step to take from vegetarianism.


Saving Animals

In the UK alone, 850 million animals and hundreds of millions of fish are killed every year to put meat on tables - that?s more than three million animals a day. Before they are slaughtered, hundreds of millions lead desolate, disease-ridden lives on factory farms.

Cattle reared for milk production are exploited and made to suffer, just like animals reared for meat. They suffer from lameness, mastitis (inflammation of the udders) and other illnesses and - worst of all - they are forcibly separated from their calves just days after they are born so that humans can drink their milk. Cows are not some kind of special animal that produces milk automatically: just like every other animal, including us, they only produce milk to nurse their young. Male dairy calves, meanwhile, are useless to the dairy industry and are usually shot at birth. Meanwhile, egg-laying hens may be crammed into battery cages or disgusting, disease ridden percheries and forced to produce twenty times the number of eggs as are natural to them. Even free range and organic layers face disease and parasites - and are slaughtered for cheap meat as soon as their productivity falls below the level that the egg business will accept. Male chicks are as useless to the industry as male dairy calves and all are killed - including those on free-range and organic systems.

Like leather, wool is a vital part of the profitability of the meat business - and animals suffer to produce it. Over 90% of British sheep flocks have problems with lameness and almost 1 in 5 lambs die before getting to market. Even honey bees are prone to infectious diseases and the ill-effects of intensive production. All animals kept for profit are exploited in one way or another: the only way to ensure that animals are not harmed is to ensure they are not farmed at all.

For much more information on all these issues, read the Viva! guide Murder, She Wrote


Saving Yourself

Vegetarians live longer and suffer less from diseases such as hypertension, obesity, coronary artery disease, certain kinds of cancer and diabetes. Vegetarian diets can even be used to treat illnesses.

Human beings are the only animals which consume milk after infancy - and the milk of another species at that. It is neither natural nor healthy. A study published in 2003 found that a vegan diet could reduce the most harmful form of cholesterol by 29%. The American Dietetic Association has declared that a vegan diet can provide all the nutrition that human beings need - from cradle to grave. Veganism is infinitely closer to the diet human beings evolved to thrive on than a normal, animal fat-soaked western diet - and the health benefits of a well-balanced vegan diet reflect that.

For much more information on all these issues, read the Viva! guide The Healthiest Diet of All


Saving Others

While 750 million people go to bed hungry every night, one-third of the world?s grain is fed to farmed animals. A typical Western meat-based diet can only feed 2.5 billion people: a plant-based diet will feed every one of us.

Again, dairy cattle and laying hens are consuming resources that could go to feeding human beings. As the developing world increasingly industrialises its animal agriculture, farming animals in order to generate revenues instead of food that problem will get worse - and as more dairy and egg produce is consumed in the developing world, so its people are at risk of falling prey to the diet-induced illnesses of Western society.

For much more information on all these issues, read the Viva! guide Food for the Future


Saving the Planet

Rainforests are cleared for grazing; methane from livestock causes global warming; soil is eroded by cattle; slurry poisons waterways; and the seas are laid to waste by overfishing. The global appetite for meat and the industrial techniques of the meat industry are destroying the Earth.

Dairy cattle and laying hens consume land, water and resources just like other farmed animals. They eat pesticide-soaked fodder, produce polluting slurry, consume chemicals and drugs produced at environmental cost and generate greenhouse gases. They are a drain on our resources that this planet cannot afford.

For much more information on all these issues, read the Viva! guide Planet on a Plate

 http://www.veganmidlands.org.uk/festival/whyvegan.html

Midlands Vegan Campaigns
- Homepage: http://www.midlandsveganfestival.org.uk


Let Me In!!

16.10.2010 09:08

There will be an
awesome Guerrilla Gardening talk by the one and only unique ...Chris Tomlinson!!
The talk kicks off at 11.25...and all going well a tree planted or at least an horticutural attack afterwards....

Love to see you all there!!

Say it with flowers!!

founder of Guerrillas Of Love x

Compost Man1
- Homepage: http://www.guerrillagardening.org


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