Great Interest in the Didim VegFest 2017 !
One of Turkiye’s most popular Aegean coast holiday locations, Didim, played host to the country’s first ever Vegan festival on 29-30 April. Vegfest Didim, organized jointly by the Vegan & Vegetarian Association of Turkiye and the Municipiality of Didim with the support of Tourism Researchers Association (TURAD) and Didim Tourism Infrastructure Support Association (DITAB) and media sponsor NTV, and highlighted panels, workshops, music and cultural performances, vegan food and services booths and other activities promoting veganism and the cruelty-free choice.
Since each individual has different sensitivities and different stories, the festival was result-oriented and tailored around the three effects of veganism; ethics, environment and health. Because at the end of the day what matters the most is how many lives we are able to change, regardless of the reason. All activities including workshops and concerts were free-of-charge in order to maximize reach and participation.
Since we believe that ideals that are sensitivity-based can be developed and spread, NGO’s that have at least one of these effects in common were invited to the festival in order to enlighten them as to the results of our choices. They asked questions and questioned their own ideals as a result. Hopefully we were able to trigger some change for a few of these organizations.
VegFest featured more than 300 booths, 10 panelists and 16 workshops, attracting close to 50,000 visitors over the course of the two-day event. Located alongside the site of the historic Temple of Apollo, participants arrived from all corners of the country in order to take part in this groundbreaking event.
The binding role of music was utilized extensively at Vegfest Didim, where vegan musicials and singers lifted spirits at various parts of the festival grounds. The main concert continued the vegan theme as none other than renowned singer and songwriter Zeynep Casalini.
While locals and tourists arrived in droves to sample the amazing vegan food choices and listen to the panel discussions, buses full of vegans also made the trip from major cities around Turkiye and some even arrived from overseas to experience the festival.
Vegfest is one of the cornerstones of the Municipiality of Didim’s plan to make Didim the first vegan town in Turkiye, an ongoing project with the collaboration of the Vegan & Vegetarian Association of Turkiye. If completed, Didim will become the second
vegan friendly city in the world after Barcelona.
Source: TVD (The Vegan and Vegetarian Association of Turkey)
