Sunday the 27th of November was the Leeds Ethical Christmas Market which took place in the Town Hall from 11am until 5pm in the evening. The queue curled all the way around the street as hundreds and hundreds of people were eager to get their hands on some vegan friendly gifts and goodies! This was bittersweet for me, of course I am excited that more and more people are interested in being ethical and adopting a vegan lifestyle… I wanna go first!!!!! I waited around 20 minutes until I reached the front which wasn’t actually too bad considering the size of the queue.
Outdoors there were lots of food vans and stalls ranging from Stone-baked pizzas and hot dogs to African dishes and Spanish churros – all vegan, all ethical. Inside, there was even more food to be discovered. Haggis and pulled jackfruit pies, more vegan hot dogs, an array of Indian dishes, fully loaded nachos complete with a “cheese” sauce… the decision making was a tough one. I eventually chose the Indian stand and got a selection of chickpea curry, dahl, rice, noodles, a samosa and a chapatti which only cost around £6, which I think is really cheap considering the amount I received.
A firm vegan favourite of mine is Ananda Foods, luckily they had a stall present at the fair. Based in Dronfield but delivering all over the country, Ananda Foods is a vegan company that makes vegan marshmallows and wagon wheels. Ananda marshmallows come in 7 different flavours and you can even choose gluten free options! I think these make for great little presents and so I chose a few grab bags of marshmallows in different flavours to give away at Christmas time as gifts: chocolate, coconut, strawberry and raspberry! I also picked up some of my absolute favourites – vegan wagon wheels! They come in standard marshmallow and jam, and also mint or orange flavour. Perfect Christmassy treats but also perfect for the whole year round.
Another highlight of the festival was the sheer amount of sweet goodies to be found! These days, finding vegan food is pretty easy but finding vegan dessert can still be a little tricky! Mad Hatters Pantry offered an array of vegan cakes, bakes and treats including Peppermint Mocha cupcakes, gluten free Black Forest brownies, Chocolate Orange cupcakes, and the popular Stollen which was very quickly sold out. Also present was The Vegan Cakery, a Leicester based company which offers and order-and-collect service of vegan bakes in Leicester city centre and also raises money for various animal charities and sanctuaries. You can even order vegan cakes online to be delivered! Amazing!
Other stalls of the fair included health and beauty, jewellery, massages, clothing, chutneys, bags, candles and more. I especially love my Cosmic Vegan t-shirt that I purchased from Viva La Vegan (http://www.viva-la-vegan.com). There was also various talks and activities going on throughout the day about the vegan lifestyle, how to maintain it, and cooking demonstrations such as from Leeds local Billy Collins (http://www.hercampus.com/school/leeds/billy-collins-honest-edibles). Even vegan speed dating was an option at 4pm but sadly, I had left by then…
The growing popularity of vegan living is evident and I’m excited to attend more vegan events in the future! Saturday the 17th of June will see the Great Yorkshire Vegan Festival again in Leeds in the First Direct Arena with stalls, caterers, samples, talks, demonstrations, music and activities. If you can’t wait that long, Central Manchester Vegan Fair takes place on Saturday 21st of January 2017.
http://www.yorkshireveganfestival.com/