Somebody posted this line on my Facebook page:
Building up a credible following of people honestly interested in vegan food and news, then using them as a marketing tool ( like many other blogger) : not cool.
This is my response:
fatgayvegan
What’s your bag?
If you missed out on attending London Vegan Beer Fest, it doesn’t mean you have to miss out on holding a small piece of it in your hand.
I have an extremely limited run of tote bags left from the event and I am offering them for sale right here. For £6 (or £7 outside the UK) you will get a limited edition, hand printed, organic cotton London Vegan Beer Fest tote bag posted through your letterbox.
But that is not all.
Because I am a kind and loving FGV, every buyer will also get a super cool ‘DRINK VEGAN BEER’ pin/badge and a copy of the beer fest programme.
These London Vegan Beer Fest bundles are a lovely memento of a superb community event. Once these are gone they will not be reprinted, so grab a little piece of vegan history while they last!
Click the button above for the bundle if you are in the UK (£6)
Click the button above for the bundle if you are outside the UK (£7)
Vegan feast in a Royal park
London, get ready to experience Mexican food like you have never experienced it before.
I am proudly partnering with esteemed restaurant group Peyton & Byrne to present a Mexican inspired vegan supper club held in the gorgeous surrounds of St. James’s Park.
On Thursday August 8th, 2013, food enthusiasts will have the rare chance to be immersed in a 100% plant-based Mexican meal on the covered balcony of Inn The Park. I am working alongside the staff of this Oliver Peyton-owned eatery to deliver a sumptuous and exotic range of dishes inspired by the hustle and bustle of the streets of Mexico City.
Booking details at bottom of page.
Whole lotta love
If you like a good party with plenty of vegan refreshments, wonderful people and plant-based food options, you would have been in your element last night as London Vegan Drinks made its debut in Whole Foods Market High Street Kensington.
Almost 150 vegans and vegan-friendlies converged on the gorgeous Kensington High Street mega-store on Thursday July 18th, 2013 for what is now one of the biggest monthly vegan events on the planet.
I go ahead and Smile
You know when you go to a small town or city and you find nothing to eat? What a sinking feeling, right?
This did not happen to me during my recent trip to Southsea.
Earlier this week I posted about my wondrous experience at Coco Chocolate Boutique (read about it here) and it just so happens you can also get a pretty decent vegan savoury meal on the very same street in Southsea.
Smile Cafe is as amiable an establishment as you can get. Every person working in the place was friendly, down to Earth and helpful. Their menu features vegan options clearly marked, which is highly unusual in this small cafe/diner style set up in the UK. Even though Smile is an omni eatery, I felt completely at home.
Check out what Josh and I enjoyed.
Loco for Coco
You don’t find yourself in the position of being a fat, gay vegan without knowing your way around a drop of chocolate or two. I love bars, coated sweets and anything containing vegan chocolate. It’s part of the territory when you are a FGV.
Imagine my delight a few weeks ago when I found myself standing in a cute-as-a-chocolate-button store in Southsea, surrounded by vegan chocolates. I was in heaven!
Coco Chocolate Boutique is a gorgeous specialist store crammed full of decadent, handmade delicacies just minutes from the seafront. Even though they aren’t exclusively vegan, the Coco shelves and cases hold an impressive array of animal-free fare.
There are vegan fondants, cherries oozing in brandy, dark chocolate shards in several flavours, chocolate covered Turkish delight and even solid dark chocolate skulls.
Best-in-Show at LVBF 2013
The sun burned bright. The beers flowed liberally. People adored the BBQ. Karaoke raised money for Sea Shepherd. That’s right, people. London Vegan Beer Fest was a raging success enjoyed by almost 300 people on Saturday July 13th, 2013.
I have much to share with you all (including photos), but I have taken time out of my LVBF comedown to share some important information with you. Beer lovers, I present the audience favourite beverage as voted by the attendees of London Vegan Beer Fest.
Drum roll.
Get ready to be happy
Hey. You. Yes, you.
You sitting comfortably in your front room, eating baked beans on toast or a bag of salted crisps and feeling quite smug with yourself. You might be a fussy vegan but there you are eating tasty treats normally assigned to ‘the normals’ of the world. You can eat whatever you like because there are vegan options for most things now. You are such an accomplished eater and you don’t even have to think about it anymore. It’s so easy, right?
Well, hold onto your hemp hats. I make no apologies for blowing your tiny, vegan world apart with this next announcement.
Comfortably-numb plant eaters of the UK, I give you The Mighty Fork. Eating just became interesting again.
The Mighty Fork is the brainchild of hot dog hero Rita Fontes and she is certainly going to make UK vegans more appreciative of their food choices.
LVBF swag bag
You’ve heard all the hype and you’ve survived my incessant tweets. Now it is almost time for London Vegan Beer Fest to explode onto the capital.
The beer is being brewed, the BBQ menu has been planned and the karaoke machine is loaded with songs. July 13th, 2013 is going to be a day London vegans and their friends will never forget.
But for some attendees, the memories will be even sweeter.
Tickets have been split into four categories. The general admission pre-sale tickets sold out a few days ago, you can get in on the day for £10 after 1pm and £5 after 6pm (depending on space) and then of course there are the VIP Golden Keg tickets.
These precious tickets cost £25 and are your pass to a good time with plenty of benefits. Holders of the VIP tickets gain earlybird entry from midday (an hour before everyone else), get to choose one pint of beer, will be fed one item from the vegan BBQ and get to chill out in two exclusive reserved seating areas.
That’s pretty cool, right? Well, it gets better.
Every VIP ticket holder will also be given a limited London Vegan Beer Fest goodie bag stuffed with treats and special deals.
See below for the full list of included bag treats and then hurry to the ticket page to order one of these limited edition tickets. At time of writing, there were only eight VIP tickets remaining. Be quick!
The VIP bags are reusable eco-friendly cotton and have been sponsored by Fry’s Distribution. Check out their website for tasty vegan frozen food.
Each VIP bag will contain one discount voucher for the wonderful new 100% vegan hot dog company The Mighty Fork. Keep an eye on their Twitter page for news of upcoming location.
Each VIP bag will contain one colour postcard from Elegantly Vegan, a gorgeous new recipe app. The card includes a QR code for a free preview download of the book.
Each VIP bag will contain one metal bottle opener/keyring courtesy of Yelp London. Yelp is a fun and interactive online listings community. Check them out!
Each VIP bag will contain one pen thanks to Viva! Campaigns. Follow this invaluable non-profit activist group on Twitter.
Each VIP bag will contain a discount voucher for the new allergy-free cake company Ron Likes Cakes. I recently tried one of their creations and they are highly recommended.
Each VIP bag will contain a sticker and badge pack from London’s first vegan store, Vx.
Each VIP bag will contain one sample from world-class vegan skincare company Premae. Visit Premae Skincare online to view their entire range.
Each VIP bag will contain one container of vegan Vitamin B12 tablets courtesy of Veganicity. Check out their full range of vegan vitamins and supplements online.
Each VIP bag will contain one Wild Trail wholegrain bar. These delicious bars are an FGV favourite and you can keep updated with new flavours on their Facebook page.
Each VIP bag will contain one 40g packet of Kettle chips. Visit the company online.
Each VIP bag will contain one Mini Moos bar made by the market-leading Moo Free Chocolates. Check out their full range online.
Every VIP will contain one box of Fairtrade and Organic raspberry chilli tea bags courtesy of the wonderful London Tea Company. Visit their website now!
You wanna talk about Reading?
I work hard to make London Vegan Potluck a success and stories like the following make it all worthwhile.
A few months ago I was contacted by a friendly person from Reading called Gemma. Gemma was planning a vegan potluck in her city and wanted some advice on how to get it together.
I am only too happy to help where I can when it comes to this sort of question. As I have said previously, vegan potlucks are invaluable when it comes to building social capital, supporting new vegans and strengthening the resolve of long term vegans.
Flash forward to yesterday and I received a lovely message from Gemma sharing the following information:
“So we had our potluck tonight and I thought you would like to see the pics. There were about 18 or so people I think. Thank you again for all your advice before. It really helped. Our next one is 5th August and everyone has said they will come to that one too, yaay.”
How fantastic. I tip my hat to Gemma and the Reading vegans for hosting the first of what I’m sure will be many potlucks. Hopefully I can make it along in the future!
Gemma has kindly agreed to let me use some of her photos from the Reading Potluck. Follow her Facebook page for further dates and details.