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Photo by Jesse Chambers
Big turnout
The first Alabama Vegan Fest, held at Avondale Mills Shopping Center on Sun., March 14, 2019, drew a large crowd.
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Photo by Jesse Chambers
A popular vendor
Lots of attendees at the Alabama Vegan Fest sampled the offerings from the Mustard Seed Food Co. food truck, such as bean burgers and Bar-B-Shrooms.
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Photo by Jesse Chambers
Playing host
Tropicaleo restaurant played host to the Alabama Vegan Fest. These guests ordered food inside the restaurant.
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Photo by Jesse Chambers
Learning about veganism
The Alabama Vegan Fest in Avondale offered attendees lots of information about the benefits of the vegan diet and lifestyle.
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Photo by Jesse Chambers
Other diversions
Poet Renny Ratliff offered another diversion at the Alabama Vegan Fest by writing poets on demand for attendees, including this young man.
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Photo by Jesse Chambers
Spilling outside
The Alabama Vegan Fest —hosted by Tropicaleo eatery — spilled out into the restaurant's back courtyard, into the front parking lot and into a vacant storefront next door at Avondale Mills Shopping Center.
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Photo by Jesse Chambers
Healthy eats
One of the many food vendors at the 2019 Alabama Vegan Fest prepared some small plates for attendees.
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Photo by Jesse Chambers
Hungry for healthy food
Attendees ordering food from one of the many vendors set up indoors and outdoors at the 2019 Alabama Vegan Fest in Avondale.
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Photo by Jesse Chambers
Festival shopping
An attendee at the Alabama Vegan Fest checks out some plants for sale.
The first-ever Alabama Vegan Fest, held in Avondale MIlls Shopping Center on Sunday, April 14, drew a large crowd that pleasantly surprised even the organizers of the event.
“We’ve been astonished in the best way,” said Ashley Moman of the Birmingham Vegans group. “We’ve been totally surprised by the number of people who wanted to come.”
She called the turnout for the event, which was held under mostly sunny skies on Sunday afternoon, “amazing.”
The Birmingham Vegans group hosted the event in collaboration with Tropicaleo restaurant, which is located at the shopping center, and Huntsville business person Desare Flournoy.
At about 1:30 p.m., there seemed to be at least 300 attendees. They were either ordering food inside Tropicaleo or were checking out the food and other vendors that were set up in the restaurant’s back courtyard, in the parking lot in front or in a vacant storefront next door that was formerly occupied by Family Dollar and is currently being renovated.
The family-friendly event was scheduled to include about 40 food vendors, mostly from Birmingham, along with vendors offering health products and cruelty-free makeup and cosmetic lines.
One popular vendor, the food truck from Mustard Seed Food Co., was set up in the parking lot and offered such items as bean burgers, Bar-B-Shrooms and fried brussels.
There were also some food demos and speakers, including Birmingham Vegan group creator Greg Fuller. Freeman told Iron City Ink recently that he expected the event to attract people who were not yet vegan but were curious about the lifestyle.
Fortunately, the organizers were able to handle the crowd at the festival, according to Moman.
“We worked with an event planner who’s done this many times, so she was able to handle the logistics so everybody could be here and have a good time,” she said.
Thanks to Facebook, the organizers had known that the event was generating significant interest, according to Moman.
About 850 people said they were coming on the group’s page, and 4,000 said they were interested in the event, she said.
Moman also touted the health and other benefits of eating vegan. "It will naturally lower your blood pressure,” she said. “It will naturally cure a ton of diseases, and then you can feel good that you are ethically treating animals in a proper way.”
For more information, go to facebook.com/bhamvegans.
