20,000 flock to best-ever Vegfest

CROWDS of thousands of people packed into Bristol's three-day Veg- fest, with organiser's hailing this year as the best event ever.

Vegfest, now in its tenth year, saw around 20,000 visitors flock through the gates at Harbourside.

About 3,500 visited the free festival on Friday with more than 7,000 people pouring through the gates on Saturday and Sunday.

The event featured 120 stalls selling a variety of goodies, with vegan donor kebabs, pizzas and ice creams proving popular with visitors.

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There were also stalls selling Lebanese cuisine, falafel and Indian foods and a doggie deli selling homemade dog treats.

More traditional fayre was also on offer including strawberries and cream and West Country cider.

Stalls also set up selling traditional African clothing while visitors enjoyed tucking into a variety of dishes from around the globe, including Asian street food.

Charity stalls were also in abundance along with traders selling natural beauty treatments including skin lotions and soap, food supplements and hemp milk.

Jon Murrow, 33, was working on the Herbal Haven stall which had travelled from Essex to the event.

Mr Murrow said: "Vegfest is a great event.

"More and more people are interested in growing their own vegetables and herbs and we have been busy with customers who have sourced herbs here which they couldn't find in other supermarkets or garden centres."

The festival – heralded as the world's biggest veggie event – has continued to grow in size since it began a decade ago, attracting not only stall holders from across Europe, but visitors too.

This year saw a range of famous names take to the stage over the weekend, including Finley Quaye, Neville Staples of The Specials and reggae legend Johnny Clarke meets The Soothsayers.

Here's a video shot by VeganooTV of Finley Quaye performing at VegFest:

Local acts Talisman and Dub Mafia, along with other Bristol-based musicians also performed, much to the delight of the crowds.

New this year was the comedy tent and performances by a number of vegan comedians.

Organiser Tim Barford said: "There's no doubt that we've all become more concerned with our health during the past decade.

"More people are going veggie in the UK than anywhere else in the world at the moment and that's an incredible statistic.

"This year's festival has been fantastic and we couldn't have wished for better weather.

"With 120 stalls there has also been something for everyone and the live entertainment has also proved really popular.

"We expect that around 20,000 will come to the festival over the weekend, making it our best yet."

As well as the music and the stalls, visitors enjoyed talks on healthy living and a Ready Steady chef competition where top local chefs competed against veggie chefs to create the tastiest veggie meal.

There were also cookery demonstrations and workshops, taste testing sessions, walkabout performers, crazy golf and a children's area.