Second Annual Vegan Fest Kicks Off in Bali

The second annual Bali Vegan Festival will kick off on October 7. The three-day festival will take place across two venues and feature a wide array of activities and events including raw food and macrobiotic cooking classes, Jamu workshops, black light (glow) yoga, meditation, documentary screenings, a fashion show, and nightly musical performances by local DJs. The event will also host a number of engaging lectures by activists such as Chair of the International Vegetarian Union and Head of Indonesia Vegetarian Society Dr. Susianto Tseng, Hungarian Ambassador to Indonesia Judit Németh-Pach, Sea Shepherd Asia Director and environmentalist Gary Stokes, and James Aspey—an Australian activist who undertook a 356-day vow of silence to raise awareness of animal suffering. Macrobiotic expert Liat Solomon founded the event on the belief that “world peace starts with each of us cultivating an inner sense of compassion for ourselves and others, and that this compassion starts when we stop killing animals for food,” and encourages all—vegans and carnivores alike—to attend. “In light of the success of last year’s festival, we were encouraged to create a bigger and better event for 2016,” Solomon says. This year, vegan festivals around the world welcomed a record number of attendees including those held in Los Angeles, Germany, and the United Kingdom.