An email tumbled into my inbox a few days ago heralding some wonderful news accompanied by an enticing photo.
What do you think? Have there ever been a finer collection of words?
Provincial towns you jog round
Up North
I am thrilled to announce that on September 13th, 2014 I will be hosting a vegan speed meeting event at the Northern Vegan Festival taking place in the Empress Ballroom of the Winter Gardens in Blackpool.
Here is a short piece of information about the event I am running to tease your interest:
So long
Another UK vegan restaurant bows out.
A tweet from Cooking The Vegan Books yesterday alerted me to the fact that one of my favourite places in the UK was closing. As soon as I was informed, I raced to the Dandelion & Burdock website to confirm with my own eyes and was met with the following statement:
Taste it, Brighton!
Super quick public service announcement.
One of the most exciting vegan meat products to enter the UK market in a long while is Muscolo di grano and if you are in Brighton on Saturday July 26, 2014 you will be able to taste some of their goodness for free.
The Muscolo di grano products are delicious meat analogues crafted from grains and lentils, creating a texture and taste that rates amongst the best vegan alternatives I’ve tasted anywhere.
I recently bought a few of their products which have ended up in everything from pasta salads to pizza pockets. See my hot meat and cheese sandwich below before scrolling further for information about a free product tasting event.
Quorn doing vegan
MAJOR vegan update for Quorn – available in UK from October 2015 – click here to read more
I find out a lot of information over on Facebook.
Last week Robb posted about Rekorderlig cider not being vegan which led to this post. Wayne is always sharing with me news of vegan food, including the glorious sandwich market stall Killer Tomato. Today I woke to a post on my wall from Sammy all about a tasting session for new vegan Quorn products. That’s right, Quorn are finally rolling out some plant-based options in the UK.
There has been talk for a while of a vegan burger made by the company, but enquiries were always met with a response of ‘no plans as of now to sell it in the UK’.
If you can be in Southampton on Saturday June 21, 2014 and you want to be one of the first people in the UK to try new vegan options from Quorn, it seems you could possibly even be paid for your opinions.
Follow this link to read all about it on the Rice Up Wholefoods website. The link includes details on how to register for the tasting.
If you do go, please pop on over to my Facebook page after the event and tell me all about it. I am so curious!
UPDATE – since posting the above info, I have received a few comments from people suggesting I should not give any exposure to Quorn or it’s parent company Premier Foods. Premier Foods is a huge business that also owns the Cauldron brand (amongst many, many more). It reportedly generated over £800 million revenue last year.
Please comment below with any concerns you have about the ethical concerns associated with buying from such a huge company/a company that makes huge amounts of profit from selling animal products.
ANOTHER UPDATE – As pointed out by a passionate commentator below, Quorn is no longer owned by Premier Foods. It was acquired by Montagu Private Equity. You can view the portfolio of this organisation by clicking here.
VBites Cafe
I’m not sure if vegan food in the UK really is as lacklustre as I think it is or if the problem is I have eaten in incredible restaurants that have made me hyper-critical, but I am getting grumpy about second rate options in this country.
There are moments of deliciousness and innovation, but overall I find the UK vegan food scene to be desperately in need of a revolution.
Take VBites Brighton as an example.
Sunday shoe shopping
Until last week, I had never stepped foot inside the Vegetarian Shoes store located in Brighton. The only time I would venture to Brighton was a Sunday. I don’t know why, but my daytime trips have always been on Sundays and the store was always closed on that day of the week.
Not anymore.
North West Vegan Festival
I honestly struggle to keep track of all the new vegan events and festivals popping up around the UK. It is wonderful to see the explosion of plant based activities taking place all over the country.
Grab your calendar and circle June 7, 2014 because we have another event to add to this ever-expanding list.
The North West Vegan Festival is a bumper event with more than 100 stalls that will feature all the usual activities such as cooking demos, educational discussions, film screenings and lots of vegan food. Oh yeah, there will also be vegan beer!
Get all the information you need from the event website and drop by the Lancaster Town Hall from 11am on June 7 for a big day of compassionate socialising.
The Vegan Grindhouse
I am excited. I mean, really excited.
Check out the brand new (and amazing) travelling food vendor called The Vegan Grindhouse.
Win tickets for VegFest
I love a good giveaway. Don’t you? Of course, some giveaways are superior to others and the prize up for grabs in this competition is definitely at the higher end of the scale.
You know all about VegFestUK. You are aware the Bristol chapter of this vegan lifestyle, food, education and music extravaganza has been a much loved event for over a decade. You know it is the biggest vegan show of its kind in Europe. Of course you are aware that people travel from all over the UK, Europe and the planet to attend. There isn’t a person reading this who isn’t already aware they can visit the official VegFestUK website here for all show information. I probably don’t need to tell you the event this year is spread across May 23, 24 and 25, 2014.
I won’t bore you with what you already know. Instead, here is some new information to arouse your interest.
COMPETITION
VegFestUK Bristol organisers are generously giving me the opportunity to gift two pairs of tickets to the Friday and Saturday night concerts taking place as part of this year’s event. That’s right. One lucky winner will score two tickets to the Friday night gig and two tickets to the Saturday night gig.
That’s a fab prize. Check out the talent the winner will be experiencing.
Friday May 23, 2014
VegFest UK is throwing a huge disco party featuring the Bristol Samba Band, ABBA Gold tribute band, the legendary Boney M feat. Maizie Williams and Gwen Dickey’s Rose Royce. There will also be musical action from DJ act Just a Couple of Mums.
Saturday May 24, 2014
VegFestUK goes punk on the Saturday night with live sets from Goldblade fronted by the awesome John Robb, Ruts DC and Peter Hook and the Light.
Here is how you can enter to win a pair of tickets for both nights.
Comment below telling me about your favourite musical act. Make it funny and interesting. Share tales of concert experiences, first records, obsessions gone wrong or anything related to your musical pick. Your favourite band, singer or performer does not have to be appearing at VegFestUK in order to mention them.
It is that simple. The competition will close midnight April 30, 2014. I will pick a winner based on how amusing/engaging the entry is but I’m sorry to say I can’t choose someone I work with or am friendly with already. The tickets will be sent to the winner via post from VegFestUK organisers. You will need to leave a way for me to contact you in the instance you are the winner. A link to your Twitter account would be fine.
Get entering!
Follow VegFestUK on Twitter
Like VegFestUK on Facebook