VegFest comes to St. John's for the 1st time

Vegans, vegetarians and anyone interested in learning about a plant-based lifestyle can hit up the RE/MAX Centre Saturday for the first ever St. John's VegFest.

The festival is an annual international event that has locally organized branches, similarly to TED Talks and TEDx St. John's.

While you don't have to be vegan or vegetarian to attend the event, organizer Erin Normandeau says attendees might be surprised by how easy a plant-based lifestyle can be to follow.

It's great, I only wish I had done it sooner.- Erin Normandeau

"You think it's going to be hard … All our meals are based around our meat or our protein," she told CBC Radio's The St. John's Morning Show.

"Essentially with vegetarianism or veganism it's the same thing, except we're just reaching to plant-based sources to do that. They are many plant-based foods that are very high in protein, and then other nutrients as well, and at the same time the bonus being that they're lower in fat and salt."

A vegan herself, Normandeau is excited to bring the event to St. John's for the first time.

"A couple of us got together and just saw that there was a need," she said.

"It's sort of been spreading across North America, and we thought, 'Well, let's try and do it in St. John's.' And so far so good."

Event details

St. John's VegFest 2016 is a free event taking place Saturday from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m.

There will be food and merchandise vendors throughout the day — all items for sale are 100 per cent vegan — as well as entertainment and yoga for kids in the morning and guest speakers in the afternoon.

There will also be a panel discussion at 3:30 p.m. to talk about the challenges — and benefits — of being a vegan in Newfoundland and Labrador.

When speaking about veganism, Normandeau has only one complaint.

"It's great, I only wish I had done it sooner," she said.