Welcome back, friends!!
This post is all about my time at the Vegan Life Live event so if you’re not particularly bothered about this, I’ll see you on the next one (no hard feelings!!)
So thankfully one of my dearest blogger friends CompletelyChelle, had given me the two tickets as she was unable to go, it was an extremely kind gesture and I’m incredibly grateful so thank you to you Chelle first of all, else this post wouldn’t be happening! Go check out her blog if you want all things cruelty-free and vegan!
As promised, I’m writing about the day! Good bits and bad bits! I don’t mess about! I’ll be talking freebies and fun so if you’ve never been to this event before, here’s what to expect!
The journey up to London!
We set off nice and early on Sunday morning (8:30 if you must know) and arrived in London around 11am! We went by coach as it’s much cheaper! The journey itself was fairly easy actually, I’m a good sign reader (wow, skills) so finding our way wasn’t too much of a problem although I would no way have done it on my own and my mum said the same!
Hats off to those living in London, I honestly don’t know how you do it – but it’s stress central for me!
So what did we expect?
Looking at the site it was fairly obvious what to was going to happen and I was expecting it to be busy just by going off the number of people that signed up to Veganuary (150,000 signed up!) I could tell this event would have a similar interest – IT WAS PACKED!
We hoped for a few cheeky goodies and upon arrival, we were given a little goody bag with some Vita Coco coconut oil (coconut oil is so handy, so this was amazing!) and some leaflets – plus a little map of the stalls inside!
The setting was absolutely stunning, based in Alexandra Palace (I have never been before). After we got through the giant blue doors we entered into a room as what I can only describe as heaven!
It was FULL of plants, the tropical looking ones at that, they were as high as the ceiling and in the corner of the room; sat a little waffle cart!
The smell was lingering throughout the room and it was the cosiest greeting ever after being outside in the winter chill!
I immediately ran to the nearest leaf and had a photo with it, of course, I did. After the little photo shoot, we plodded on forth towards the big hall where all the goodies were!
I must admit there was a big sense of community when I entered, I was excited at the thought of not having to check whether anything was vegan, if the cafes would carry soya milk – it was a comforting feeling with no pressure in that sense.
Unfortunately, as suspected, it was chokka block. I took Mumma Bear with me, she knows how to get through crowds of people… I don’t. So she led the way but we did get separated a few times as I got trapped between chairs waiting for a gap in the fast-moving queues!
So what was there?
Tables, stands, FREEBIES! Now I went on a fairly empty stomach, we both did. Our tummies were really wanting some food when we arrived (I had the painful tummy rumbles, yes it was that bad!).
We had nothing to fear when it came to the food, although I dread to think how much sugar we actually consumed from the several chopped up pieces of energy balls and cereal bars, not to mention the brownies pieces, flapjack, crisps and copious amounts of dark chocolate!!
The good bits?!
It was a good opportunity to explore and discover new brands that aren’t mainstream but produce the goods for us goers! Many of the stands had little samples ready for us to devour.. and we did, maybe a little too much! In fact so much so that I struggled to eat the actual piece of food I paid for!! Left there feeling like I could pop!
There was a food court, live music and educational speakers and cooking demonstrations at different times; all of which you could attend at certain times as shown on the guide.
The bad bits?!
Unfortunately, there were far too many people in the room and although it’s London and it’s used to crowds and holding a large capacity of humans. My brain is not and it became very overwhelming for me very quickly! In fact, there was one point in which I tried to venture off on my own to get food and nearly ended up in tears (but that’s my own issue). Food had sold out fairly quick, gutted because I really wanted to try the Eat Mac’n Mac and Cheese there! But I did manage to grab a posh hot dog from Pig Out!
Because it was so busy and like most places in London, it was a mad dash for the seat that had just become available! Again, expected but it’s not a lifestyle I’m used to and I really don’t do well with crowds!
Overall I really enjoyed myself as did my mum who is a meat eater, she discovered oat milk and said she couldn’t really taste the difference in her coffee (and she’s fussy with milk!). We also got to try seitan which I’d only heard of before!
It was great to discover a variety of new brands! I’ll leave below some of the companies I discovered so you can check them out!
Adonis – These guys had a stand full of little brownies that were absolutely delicious! As soon as I tried them I said, yes, they’re going on the blog! They were low in sugar and this is what they were promoting! Healthy yummy snacks, without the blood sugar spike afterwards!
Fit Pit – These two lovely ladies at the stand had natural deodorant made from shea butter and coconut oil with bicarbonate of soda that prevents you stinking any rooms out! It was a lovely formula that melted into the skin – it’s natural and very kind to your skin! – Go check them out if you’re looking for a new deodorant!
Deliciously Ella – Not the smallest brand anymore, however, their stall was absolutely lovely and I think they said that the whole range of energy balls and cereal bars was there so I tried a bit of everything! They were all divine and that’s why they’re on the list! Plus the packaging is so cute!!
LoveSeitan – These guys were the ones who gave me the seitan! It’s a strong tasting meat substitute, I need some in my life because I know it would be amazing in a stir-fry!! *drool*
If you’d like to attend a vegan event then https://www.vegancampout.co.uk/ check this site out! It looks like a very cute event!!
Thank you so much for reading friends!
Kara xo
KARA DAVIES 