August 16, 2024
Veggie Life

Veggie Fest 2024 – A Resounding Success

We did it!! Veggie Fest – Elevated Food to new Flavoring Heights

Veggie Fest Returns with Record Numbers! Tens of Thousands Enjoy the Free Weekend Wellness festival

Lisle, IL: Tens of thousands of fans and friends supported Veggie Fest 2024, returning after the pandemic with record numbers! This free health and wellness festival was held on the outskirts of Chicago at Danada South Park in Lisle, IL on August 11 & 12.

The 14th annual Veggie Fest, which started way back in 2005, is today supported by a fantastic assembly of local and national sponsors, beginning with the host sponsor, Science of Spirituality International Meditation Center (a worldwide humanitarian organization dedicated to transforming lives through meditation) in partnership with the Institute for Meditation & Inner Harmony.

Joining this collaboration is an array of incredible community sponsors: The State of Illinois, Conservation Foundation, Forest Preserve of DuPage County, Discover DuPage, Sensory Garden Play for All, the Lisle, Aurora, Wheaton, and Naperville Chambers of Commerce along with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.

Also sponsoring the festival are the vegan and veg mavericks: Happy Cow, Chicago Veg, Open Water, Nature’s Path, Manna Kitchen, Manna Organics, Whole Love Organics, and Jenny’s Tofu, with the terrific

sponsorship from Patel Brothers, Power Forward DuPage, and Byline Bank. (For more sponsor names, please visit our website.)

Ribbon-cutting for the Grand Opening Saturday at Veggie Fest

Although food is the theme of the festival, its heart belongs to our renowned speakers and chefs from across the country. This year we were honored to host Jyothi Rao, M.D., doctor and author of Body on Fire, who gave two demos on Saturday & Sunday to packed crowds. Equally impressive were two speakers new to the fest: Dr. Baxter Montgomery, M.D. (Board Certified Cardiologist from Houston, Texas) who spoke on Heart Failure: an Integrative Solution and Dr. Julie Varughese, M.D. (Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President of Programs for Americares) who spoke on Coping in Times of Crisis: A Global Perspective.

Our International Food Court had 27 different food booths. New this year were Açaí Heaven, Boba Blast, Mac & Philly’s Cheese Shack, Chicken without Wings, and Greek Street Food.

Açaí Heaven was one of twenty-seven amazing vegan & veg food booths at the festival.

The Yoga Tent hummed throughout the day with children and adults enjoying Family Yoga, Vinyasa Flow, and Restorative Yoga. Sponsored by eight local yoga studios, it was the most chill place to “just be” with maybe one exception: our Learn to Meditate Tent which hosted hundreds of people throughout the day.

Practiced and new meditators who wanted to connect to the divinity within themselves enjoyed sittings at half-hour intervals before joining the fun and frolic at the music stage which presented some of the best bands in Chicago! The captivating reggae music of Gizzae closed out the festival on Saturday and for the first time to Veggie Fest, the reggae-funk-Afro-Caribbean band, Funkadesi (which won best International World Music of Chicago) closed out the festival on Sunday.

Veggie Fest enjoyed another year broadcasting the Sunday morning radio show, Doctor in the House with Dr. Terry Mason from the festival grounds.

Thousands also enjoyed the opportunity to receive live instruction on how to incorporate plant-based foods in their daily life at our Why Go Veg? where speakers from all walks of life and different backgrounds shared tips & tricks. There was a sign-up to 21-day Veg Challenge and a Nutrition Tent.

The Children’s Zone was packed with kids who enjoyed face painting, crafts, and music – all culminating in an adorable kid’s parade throughout the festival grounds, wearing costumes of their favorite fruits and vegetables.

If you missed the festival this year, you can always visit the Veggie Fest website where you’ll find a link to the festival website as well as over a thousand vegetarian and vegan recipes at veggiefestchicago.org, relevant blogs, and news on upcoming events.

Representatives and Mayors from DuPage County, Chambers, Gov. Agencies, and VF Leadership