UPDATED: Oct. 16, 2019 at 10:30 p.m.

Vegan food, cruelty-free products and plant-powered people will come together this weekend for a festival of activism, education and celebration.

Following the Rochester and Albany festivals in September, Syracuse Vegfest 2019 will take place Oct. 19 at the New York State Fairgrounds.  

Vegfest aims to bring individuals and organizations together, as well as to educate people, regardless of food taste about the lifestyle, said Theresa Stowell, the president of the organization. The event is run by Vegan CNY, a nonprofit organization based in central New York and sponsored by Strong Hearts Cafe, the only all-vegan restaurant based in Syracuse. 

Vegfest 2019 will be the first of its kind in Syracuse in 9 years, said Joel Capolongo, the co-owner of Strong Hearts Cafe.  

“The vegan community here has definitely grown a lot since the last Vegfest, and I’m excited to see the crowd and turnout,” said Capolongo. 

Capolongo said that though the event will be great for exposure for his business, he mostly looks forward to walking around the fairgrounds and checking out other vegan vendors.  

Vegfest will host speakers such as lauren Ornelas, the founder and executive director for Food Empowerment Project. Strides of CNY, a gym that focuses on plant-based nutrition, and Teddie Eddie’s, a whole foods company, will also be at the festival.  

Stowell said she was pleasantly surprised by the amount of people who RSVP’d, and the number of vendors that want to attend the event. She added she’s also happy about how Syracuse has embraced veganism; this year the program projects to have 2,o00 to 2,700 people.  

Teddy Kopytowski said that the event is great because it shows the vegan culture in central New York. He said because the festival is in Syracuse, the heart of New York, it will help tap into each region. Kopytowski is the founder of Teddie Eddie’s, a company that focuses on creating whole food options. 

Karleigh Merritt-Henry | Digital Design Editor

“I think it’s really going to broaden attendees eyes to how active and how prominent and how alive the culture is here in Syracuse,” Kopytowski said. 

Kopytowski started the food company in relation to Strides of CNY, with a mission to provide the optimal plant-based diet to its clients. He said Teddie Eddie’s uses no refined ingredients or oils in order to make healthy food that looks and tastes the best.  

Kopytowski’s companies will be at the festival to bring awareness to a plant-based diet and overall health and wellness.  

“Serving the culture and being able to do good … not only by the people there, but offering information to people that might be on edge about veganism and plant-based diets,” he said.  

What’s most important for Kopytowski is he wants to show how they relate plant-based diets to performances, health and wellness. The presentation between his two companies will feature physical activities and challenges where guests can win prizes, such as food and apparel.  

Thrive Life, another vendor, will be passing out food samples to guests to promote veganism. Founded 15 years ago, Thrive Life has the mission of supplying quality food to people with high nutrition. 

Christina Riostirado, a consultant from Thrive Life, said this will be her first vegan festival and isn’t sure what to expect, but loves the company and sharing food. “I’m hoping everyone will like what I bring here,” she said.  

Capolongo envisions that the festival will draw a large, diverse crowd, but all having shared appreciation for the food and company. 

“Many people associate us with the younger crowd, particularly the student crowd. But that’s not always who our customers are,” Capolongo said. “I think Vegfest will reflect that based on seeing the types of customers at the cafe and how everyone can enjoy good vegan food.”  

CORRECTION: In a previous version of this post, it was misstated that there would be live animals from sanctuaries. The Daily Orange regrets this error.

Published on October 16, 2019 at 12:03 am