Hereford Vegan Festival and Firefly Vegan Pub

Two weeks ago we went to Hereford, a cathedral city in Herefordshire.

Hereford lies on the River Wye and borders with Wales.  D tried to remind me that we had been there before, but I really did not remember when. 

Gloucester Vegan Market

Gloucester's first ever Vegan Market took place over the weekend and I was there.  Gloucester Vegan Market was held at Blackfriars in the city centre.

There were over 50 stalls selling diverse cuisine from the Caribbean and India, as well as burgers,, hotdogs, pies, falafels to sweet treats such as raw chocolate, cupcakes, cookies and fudge to drinks from mulled wine, Prosecco to kombucha.

Here are a selection of decent pictures that I managed to take during the heightened excitement.

Cheltenham Vegan Fair and Courgetti

Just over a year ago, I went to Cheltenham, England for the first time.  

I was allured there then by Cheltenham  Vegan Fair, which I thoroughly enjoyed that I wanted to go again and we did so last weekend.  

Unlike last year, when I wore my raincoat, this day was one of the hottest in the year.  

This is a photograph of CheltenhamTown Hall where the Vegan Fair was hosted.  I should have shared another photograph by the afternoon when the queue was very long.  The organisers had to implement a rule 'one in one out'.  We were fortunate, as we were actually there early, so early that you can see from the above photograph the Cheltenham Vegan Fair banner was not even up then.  We were also the first 100 people through the door and got a bag of vegan goodies (which included the Perkier Quinoa Bar and Pulsin Raw Brownie Bar below). 

Here is a link to the traders at Cheltenham Vegan Fair 2017, however I noted many of the vegan stalls present last year were missing this year like Harding Catering ;  Raw Happy. Juiciful Catering; Fair Foods Catering  and the producers of the best ever vegan New York Baked 'Cheesecake' Hardcore Vegan Catering Unless & Artisan 'Meats'  were also missing.  I have to confess I was a little disappointed by this as I was looking forward to indulging this time round - rather than just admiring, but there was still enough to interest me and made it worth the trip.

Swansea VegFest at Brangwyn Hall

This morning we took a drive to Swansea for the Swansea VegFest 2017.

The last Swansea VegFest I attended was in 2015 at the Swansea Environment Centre. 

Swansea Vegfest for the past two years has been held at Brangwyn Hall. 

We had arrived in Swansea way to early as it was still an hour to doors opening at 10.30am to the VegFest event, so we walked into the city centre and Swansea Market.  It was not a great day to be exploring a city still new to me, as the weather had turned dramatically with heavy rain that we got proper wet, even with out waterproofs.

We returned at around mi-day when the Swansea VegFest was in full swing and super busy, making it a little difficult to check out some of the stall, but as we were in no rush to head back home, I walked round and round until I got to see most of the stalls, especially those that were new to me. 

Bristol VegFest 2017

For the fourth year running, we went to Bristol Veg Fest and yes, it rained.  We still enjoyed the day.

So many vegan food stalls were missing including, some favourites like Ms Vegan Cupcake, Lettices, Mheat, Loving Hut, The Happy Maki, Chai Wallah, and Vegetarian Caviar Club - I was a little disappointed as I have been wanting to get my mitts on some jars of vegan caviar for special meals.  

  But there was still loads to see, including some favourites Vegan Sweet Tooth,

Cardiff Viva Vegan Festival

Over the weekend, we went into the city of Cardiff for the Vival Vegan Festival.  

This was Cardiff's largest vegan festival organised by the charity Viva!  Viva! is an animal and environmental campaigning charity that exposes animal abuse.  

Cardiff Viva Vegan Festival was held at Cardiff City Hall. 

Welsh Vegan Festival

Wow, what a jam packed weekend I have had.  Yesterday we went to the annual Elvis Festival in Porthcawl and this morning to the first Vegan Welsh Vegan Festival in Cardiff. 

I apologise in advance, I know my photographs are not great, but one reason this time that is legitimate is that the venue The Tramshed which is a theatre was a dark venue. I did my best for the stall holders there to showcase their vegan offerings.  

I have to kick start with Cafe Atma which is based in Cardiff.  Here are three burgers Chakra Burger, Babu Burger and The Nutty One. 

 Falafel Wrap and Kofta Wrap

Gav and his colleague are from Tandoori Q .  On my wish list is one of their Tandoori Ovens, my father would be pleased.

  Mex It Up cooking up some Jackfruit on twitter.

Bristol VegFest 2016 Part 2

This is part two of my day yesterday in Bristol for the Veg Fest.  For part one click here..

Bristol VegFest 2016 Part 1

I am taking a weekend break from sharing my Cornish Holiday photographs.  

Today I share with you my rainy day in Bristol.  For the third year running, we went to Bristol Veg Fest.  I took loads of pictures, so will be sharing them in two parts.  Today I will share with you my favourite discoveries and tomorrow the rest will follow. 

I kick off with the lovely Poppy Lettice-Boss the founder of Letttices. Poppy is very much like me (that is when I was doing vegetarian and vegan farmers markets) in lovingly creating small batches of artisan food.  

Letttices makes small scale plant based foods, but also vegan 'meat' and vegan 'cheeses'.  

Many of you will know that I am not vegan, but a vegetarian - although my diet is 95% vegan, I am still a vegetarian.  Anyway, I tried her Blue Cheese and wow, I loved how it really mimicked the real thing. Totally recommended.

Cheltenham Vegan Festival

I've never been to Cheltenham, England but when I saw that there was Cheltenham were hosting a Vegan Fair, well I thought this would be the weekend to go and make a whole day of it.  

It was icy cold, but the hospitality of the Cheltenham people was very warm that it was a delight to explore the city, but also the stalls at the Cheltenham Vegan Fair.   Although it was small,  I loved it as it made a fabulous and genuine refreshing change from the usual suspects in South Wales.  So here are some of the delights that my eyes (and belly) were able to feast on.  I apologise sincerely in advance if I have missed your stall here, it was getting busy so I was unable to take pictures of all that were there, but I did visit each and every one of them. 

 Lovely little Badger flower pots

I know a friend who would love this in her kitchen.  I regret not getting it for her now, it would have been a nice house warming gift.

Kind Cakes, Mean Bakes in Bristol

Did I tell you we had 1 inch of snow in the Welsh valleys at the weekend.  It was a bit of a surprise, to look out of the bedroom window to find the greenhouse and dirt ground covered with the cold white stuff.  It took us a little while to scrape the ice of the car too.

Anyway, to escape the cold and being stuck indoors, we took a drive and made a day trip of going into Bristol.  I love Bristol for many reasons, when I graduated from University all those years ago  - I applied for jobs in Bristol, Brighton and Birmingham, but ended up finding a job in the city when I went to Uni - Glasgow.  I do love exploring Bristol as well as trying out the many vegetarian and vegan eateries.  I also enjoy taking a lazy wander around Stokes Croft for the graffiti art - but there was not much new there this time round, just a handful around the #RefugeesWelcome.  

This is the only one that I managed to capture on camera.  Its Paddington Bear - Migration is Not a Crime.  Instead of Cafe Kino, we decided to try a different place -  Wise Beans Cafe -  the coffee was real good.  

We were not ready to eat, but I was restraining myself as we had walked passed the Market at The Moon and I spyed some beautiful handmade crafted gifts, as well as Kind Cakes, Mean Bakes and I was suddenly tempted by all of their sweet and savoury bites.  

Sometimes, I miss my own vegetarian culinary adventures and admire and live precariously through others.  If I do return to grassroots cooking, I often imagine it will be something like Mazi Mas or The International Peace Cafe, both recently featured in The Guardian; or even just a 'Pop Up Supper Club'. 

I am very cautious when I tell vegetarian and vegan stall holders that I used to do some catering (and sometimes that I even have a food blog). The response closer to home has not always been welcoming.  I am often snubbed and perceived as a competitor.  Sadly even the non-vegetarian stalls that knock out one sad 'cheese and onion' vegetarian option, give me that sly look, but I have to be honest, its the first time that I got a bit of warmth and it came from two funky vegan women behind Kind Cakes Mean Bakes.  I applaud that kind and genuine warmth that they exuded, they were even generous in sharing a recipe with me.   Thank you so much Caroline and Jane. 

I really really wanted to try everything made by  Kind Cakes Mean Bakes, but at the same time I didn't want to be carrying fragile fresh bakes in my bag and wandering the eclectic streets of Bristol for another few hours, so I went for one - the most eye-catching bake on the table, saying that most were incredible - but it was the beetroot topping that made me opt for the vegan Savoury Cake with 'cream cheese'. 

Above - Caroline lifting up a generous slice for me to take home.  And boy, oh boy it was Awesome - even D gave it the thumbs up. 

My one regret on the day was not getting some Jaffa Fakes - some with orange and some with raspberries!  I consolidate myself in the knowledge that I will visit  Kind Cakes Mean Bakes again, but it may now be next Year, unless we go back in December for some Christmas shopping...   You never know....

Swansea VegFest

This time last week I had come back from Swansea Veg Mini-Fest.  

We were there quite early, but it was a good sign as people were beginning to gather. 

Booming and Busy Bristol VegFest 2015

I had a good time in Bristol at the weekend, what made it even more enjoyable was the company of my nephew and niece.  Before heading down to the Harbour side for Bristol VegFest, we went into Stokes Croft not only to check out the graffiti art, but also to get some breakfast at Cafe Kino.  Then we winded our way to the city centre, when we decided to wander through St Nicholas Market and I treated myself to some Psycho Chocolate Chilli Salted Caramel with Naga Jolokia from the Hot Sauce Emporium. 

When we eventually got to Bristol VegFest it was super busy, I knew it would be so as I attended last year too.  Anyway, I had to go round twice, maybe even three times to absorb what was there, but I am sure that I miss loads in the hustle and bustle.  It was also quite hard to take pictures, so I only have a few to share.

The fabulous Ms Cupcake aka Melissa Morgan in person who was more than happy for me to take a photograph of her.  I have her The Naughtiest Vegan Cupcakes in Town, but have to admit that I have yet to bake from it.  The selection below has me tempted and I am not overly a cupcake girl, but I am happy to bake them for others.  

From baked vegan cupcakes to raw cakes and raw pizza from Paradise Unbakery which I was truly bowled over by. 

I really did not know where to look first.   Everything looked amazing.  

These were perhaps the most beautiful raw vegan cakes I have ever and I mean set eyes upon

 And you could see that they were truly made with love and edible flowers.

My nephew was tempted to try the Raw Thai Nam Home Coconut Water from Coco Face. 

I have box of vegan Marshmallows from Ananda's to make at home, but it was good to try a sample of how the successfully made vegan marshmallow would taste.

There were so many vegetarian and vegan caterers on site, that we were spoiled for choice of world wide cuisine.  I was really tempted by Brownins Caribbean vegan food, but the free samples of vegan cheese crackers and chocolate had me feeling quite content, that I wasn't quite ready to eat lunch. 

There were massive queues for the Happy Maki  (that specialised in vegan sushi wraps) and The Loving Hut, and as much as I would have loved to tried their offerings (of vegan 'fish' and chips with 'fish' sauce), I don't have the patience to line up for food.  

I was excited to see The Spotted Leopard there, but look forward to enjoying their grub some other day when I am in Bristol.

Momentarily I lost D, but when I looked back again he appeared with a cone of Smoked Jerk Spices chunky chips from The Happy Chippy.  I must admit, the last thing I expected to eat at the Vegfest was chips!

I have to admit, I did not come back home laden with goodies, just a few things amongst them Bengal Spice Tea and Koko Dairy and Soy Free milk, but all in all it was a good day and one I would be happy to do again, come next year. 

Welsh Duo Dale and Larkin @Newport Food Festival 2013

This morning, I went into Newport city for the Newport Food Festival, now in its third year.  The programme promised lots of on-street mayhem, over 70 stalls crammed with food, drink and crafts.  Yes there were lots of fresh whiff of welsh cakes in the air, welsh cheese tasters on offer and plenty of hustle and bustle, but the highlight for me today were the Welsh duo Larkin Cen and Dale Williams, both whom were finalists in this years BBC's Masterchef.  

Unfortunately, I missed out on watching Masterchef the past two years because of the hours I was working and sitting down and watching any sort of televisual was not happening for me, as many of you know as my blog was also neglected.  

Anyway,  I was still charmed by them both who demonstrated making a seafood dish.  Unfortunately it was a little distracting to hear what either was saying whilst they were demonstrating as Larkin Cen was being heckled by his number one fan in Newport.