Vegan Camp Out: The World’s Largest Vegan Camping Festival

What’s on at Vegan Camp Out and why going to a vegan festival is an eco-friendly way to have fun! 

Author: Isadora Malina-Derben 

Vegan Camp Out will be returning this July for another long weekend of vegan paradise in the UK. As the largest vegan camping festival in the world, happy campers will be traveling from over 40 different countries around the globe to the eco-town Bicester, Oxfordshire, where the festival is taking place.

Besides being home to the best vegan food in the country with 50+ food vendors present, there will be a variety of entertainment, including live music, yoga, talks, activist workshops, family-friendly activities, and afterparties. 

If you’re looking to have fun this summer with little impact on the planet and animals, this is the festival for you! 

Who will be headlining Vegan Camp Out? 

With only 2 months to go, this purpose-driven event will take place from Friday, the 28th of July, to Monday, the 31st, and the lineup is nothing short of inspiring. There will be an array of influential people, including chefs, musicians, athletes, and activists, united by the same mission to promote a vegan lifestyle and bring like-minded people together for an exciting weekend of animal-free fun. 

Headliners include the world’s most popular plant-based chefs, Henry Firth, and Ian Theasby, better known as BOSH!, whose mission to put more plants on plates through easy recipes and delicious products has been a worldwide success. They have the largest vegan social media brand worldwide and have written 5 Sunday Times best-selling cookbooks and more. 

The stage will be joined by the talented actor and comedian Romesh Ranganathan, best known for his deadpan sense of humor. He has presented on multiple television shows, including his own ones, Judge Romesh and The Ranganation, won BAFTA TV Awards, and is a proud and outspoken vegan. 

Another legend in the vegan community and Australian animal activist, Joey Carbstrong, will be making an appearance and is notorious for his inspiring transition to veganism after being released from prison. He’s devoted his life to animal liberation and raising awareness through public speaking and his social media platforms. 

What food options will be there? 

Whether you’re vegan, vegetarian, or veg-curious, this mouth-watering food line-up will not disappoint! With 50+ food vendors coming from the UK’s best vegan street food and restaurants, there will be a range of delicious food for everyone’s taste buds, as well as providing gluten-free and raw options too.

From Caribbean, Indian, dirty burgers, fish and chips, Chinese, hot dogs, sushi, and vegan chicken to doughnuts and ice cream for those sweet tooths, campers will not be strapped for choices. Here are a few of the vendors that’ll be serving up these goodies. 

Jam ‘N’ Vegan – a plant-based and culture-driven ready meal brand that delivers ‘Culture in a Box’ with subscriptions, including Jamaican, Indo-Chinese, and Caribbean food. 

The Hogless Roast – winner of Britain’s Best Vegan Menu 2022 and the UK’s first vegan hog roast roll, these burgers will leave you wanting more. 

The No Catch Co. – highlighting the unethical and unsustainable nature of the fishing industry, this vegan fish and chips restaurant is leading the way to revolutionize vegan seafood. 

Purezza – one of the most popular vegan pizza brands and was voted UK’s Best Vegan Restaurant by abillion, an app that helps you find vegan dishes near you, in 2021.

Holy Carrot – on a mission to innovate plant-based foods, this vegan restaurant offers nutrient-rich and seasonal dishes, including sexy tofu, orange cauliflower, and holy maki. 

The After School Cookie Club – London’s first plant-based cookie bakery, serving gooey hand-topped cookies and raw edible cookie dough. 

Full list of food vendors here. 

Why go to a vegan festival? 

Festivals and music events are a huge and increasing part of tourism, with an estimated 3.17 million festival-goers in the UK every year. With these figures in mind, there’s no doubt these events require vast amounts of resources and have a detrimental impact on our environment. While we may want to let our hair down and have a break from the hustle and bustle of everyday life for a sweet and sweaty weekend, the importance of our ecological footprint is becoming ever more present. 

As a response to the climate crisis, a festival think tank, Powerful Thinking, conducted The Show Must Go On report, looking into the environmental effects of the festival industry. It found that British festivals emit 20,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2), produce 23,500 tonnes of waste and five million liters of fuel. While this report shows festivals’ shocking impacts on our planet, they don’t show the whole picture. In fact, when it comes to talking about the environment, we tend to neglect a key factor; what we eat.

Animal agriculture is a leading contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, and there is countless evidence that shifting to a plant-based food system could be “our best and most immediate chance to reverse the trajectory of climate change,” according to scientists from Stanford University and the University of California, Berkeley. 

Despite our food system playing a tremendous role in our environmental problems, festivals tend to ignore this as part of their sustainability commitments and future goals. Although reducing our emissions from energy consumption, recycling, and encouraging people to leave with their tents is good, it can only go so far. 

Considering this, there’s no better time to go to a vegan festival and have a sunny weekend packed full of fun activities with little impact on the lives of animals and the planet. 

So, why Vegan Camp Out?

Being the largest 100% plant-based camping festival in the world, Vegan Camp Out is leading the way for greener and animal-free festivals and is standing for positive change in this industry. 

As well as not having animal products served or on-site, the festival has a number of initiatives to ensure sustainability and minimal environmental damage. They’ve collaborated with Big Green Coach to offer carbon-neutral transport directly to the location. Their food vendors will be 100% plastic-free, recycling anything that can be and giving talks on minimalism and zero waste as part of their activist program over the weekend. 

Viva!, their partner, “is delighted to be partnering again with Vegan Camp Out. With an excellent new venue, top vegan entertainment, and activism events- not to mention delicious food, 2023 promises to be the best vegan festival ever!” exclaims Founder & Director of Viva!, Juliet Gellatley. 

With over 75% of their tickets already sold, make sure to grab a ticket before they go here. 

To find out more about exciting vegan events, check out Vkind.com and the Vkind app to stay up to date with vegan news, opportunities, recipes, and more!

Article references: 

1. https://www.vegancampout.co.uk/
2. https://www.envirotech-online.com/news/environmental-laboratory/7/breaking-news/how-do-festivals-impact-the-environment/46689
3. http://livemusicexchange.org/resources/the-show-must-go-on-report-environmental-impact-report-and-vision-for-the-uk-festival-industry-powerful-thinking-2015/#:~:text=The%20Show%20Must%20Go%20On%20report%20was%20conceived,industry-wide%20approach%20to%20reducing%20environmental%20impacts.%20Promote%20action.
4. https://news.stanford.edu/2022/02/01/new-model-explores-link-animal-agriculture-climate-change/