Every year since moving to Florida (six years ago) we have attended the Central Florida Vegetarian Festival. It's held in Orlando each October. We always enjoy the event, and this year was no different!

The event was held in a new park than it usually is. I think the layout was better, as it was not as spread out as it usually is. The only downside is the $5 parking fee (we never had to pay for parking for the event). Other than that, what a great time!

My goal this year was to hear Dr. Melanie Joy speak and to eat a bunch of good vegan food. Both of these tasks were accomplished! We arrived 20 minutes before Dr. Melanie Joy was to speak, so we grabbed some food as we waited. We stopped by the Loving Hut booth and I got their skewers (which is like a BBQ seitan... so good!), my husband and son ate some summer rolls. 

Dr. Melanie Joy, who is the author of "Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows," was fabulous! I read her book and blogged about it back in 2010 (read the review here). She gave a wonderful one-hour talk about the psychology of eating animals. My husband did not read her book and he loved her talk and thought she was the best person he has heard speak on vegetarianism (and he's heard some good people over the years). Two thumbs up for her talk!

After that we decided to chow down some more and we grabbed some veggie dogs from the vegan hot dog cart, mac and cheese from Ethos Vegan Kitchen, and fresh squeezed lemonade. Then we walked around for a while and got a chai cupcake and some cookies. All the food was great!

Here's some pictures from today's VegFest that we had a good time at (once again):