The festival will feature more than a hundred vegan exhibitors, restaurants, workshops, lectures, tastings...
Today and tomorrow, for the 11th year in a row, the Zagreb main square will become a green area thanks to numerous exhibitors, lecturers and guests of the largest vegan festival in this part of Europe – ZeGeVege. After more than a decade of existence, the ZeGeVege festival has been recognized as an important part of Croatia's tourist, economic, gastronomic and cultural offer.
Vegan pizzas, kebabs, burgers, goulashes, falafels in wraps, pastries, pasta, ice creams, chocolates, fresh smoothies and green craft beers with hemp extract – these are just some of the products that will attract numerous visitors to the Croatian vegan-mania. Interesting lectures and cooking workshops will begin once an hour, and the cheerful atmosphere will be provided by dance groups.
In addition to the popular cupcakes prepared by Igor Barberić, the cooking workshops will enable visitors to learn how to prepare delicious salty and sweet vegan dishes: sweet and salted bread, omelette, Schwarzwald cake, cheese burek, sunflower seed cheese, falafel fried beans, beans salad...
For the first time, the festival will present the Animal Protection Network, a project led by the Friends of Animals association, with the aim of networking associations, individuals and institutions which work on preventing the abandonment of animals and protecting animals in general. The 43 associations that are members of the network will present their work on animal breeding control.
Vlatka Balaš from the Friends of Animals association presented another novelty. “ZeGeVege will also feature an intensive programme of activist initiatives and will present the first regional ‘cube of truth,’ where the screens will show footage from slaughterhouses, labs and other industries whose work is based on animal exploitation. Visitors will also be able to try a virtual reality experience and see through special glasses a 360-degree projection of the world inside farms and slaughterhouses.”
The festival will conclude with an after-party on Sunday at the Močvara Club in Zagreb, where volunteers and participants will share their impressions from ZeGeVege.
The ZeGeVege festival is educational in character and is organized on a non-profit basis by the Friends of Animals association. The compassion towards animals, the desire to maintain health, vitality and longevity, and the concern for the environment and the planet, are an increasing incentive for people to switch to veganism and events such as ZeGeVege, which was visited by 50,000 people last year, are an important milestone for everyone striving to change their nutrition for ethical reasons, as well as for an increasing number of those who are allergic to animal ingredients or simply want to eat healthy.
All visitors will also receive the ZeGeVege bilingual brochure with recipes, vegan trends and other useful information.
