The Charlottesville Vegetarian Festival and the Power of Green Festivals
A few days ago, I went to the 12th annual Charlottesville Vegetarian Festival with a good friend (who is also the founder and Executive Director of GreenRight, a new environmental/social-justice nonprofit). Coordinated by the group Voices for Animals and run entirely by volunteers, the event brings together people of all stripes and shades from throughout central Virginia for a smorgasbord of green goodies.
After just a few moments at the Festival, you will be able to understand why it usually draws in about 6,000 visitors, making it one of the largest vegetarian festivals in the United States. In modest Lee Park in downtown Charlottesville, and spilling over into surrounding parking lots, local natural foods stores, organizations of all sorts, restaurants, and other vendors provide an unbelievable variety of goods, information, and entertainment. Add to that live music and animal adoptions, plus free samples and fun activities like face painting, and you can easily spend the entire day with other folks who are interested in livingly compassionately towards animals and the planet.
Just to give you a snapshot: Walk up to the table of the Alliance for Community Choice in Transportation and take part in a poll of transportation methods used by attendees. Depending on your mode of locomotion (biking, driving alone, carpooling, etc.), you will get a colored rock that you then put in a clear tube. As the piles grow and the tubes fill, everyone can see which transportation methods are most popular–though the most popular may not be the most sustainable as well.
