In the deep-red state of Kentucky, the Bluegrass VegFest is an annual oasis held in Louisville, the state’s largest city.

“Bluegrass VegFest is a free public education event. Our mission is to provide educational outreach about the benefits of veganism as a way to protect animals and the environment, and improve health.”

The home of Muhammad Ali, bourbon, and the Louisville Slugger baseball bat company, as well as the Kentucky Derby and Yum! Brands (KFC), Louisville is a culturally diverse city that feels much like an island of refuge in a sea of not-quite-yet-21st Century existence. This is the state, after all, that has elected (and continuously re-elected) Mitch McConnell and Rand Paul as its U.S. Senators. ’Nuff said.

While geographically Louisville is much closer to Canada than the Gulf of Mexico, you get the feeling you are in the deep South while approaching, with no shortage of Confederate flags, pick-up trucks, and signage of a certain twice-impeached, four-time-indicted ex-POTUS in the large rural stretches of this mostly rural state, whose entire population is roughly equal to Los Angeles.

So it is in that staging that an annual VegFest in the home of Kentucky Fried Chicken and the world’s most famous horse race is quite the noble undertaking.

The roots of the festival trace back to The Vegan Temptress, Kristina J. Addington, the first vegan to win The Food Network’s “Cutthroat Kitchen” competition in 2014. Entrepreneur Addington used her winnings to purchase the now legendary V-Grits Food Truck and her determination to nurture plant-based living in her hometown, which at the time didn’t even have a single vegan restaurant.

In 2016, Addington positioned her food truck outside a gallery and all-but-singlehandedly started the festival. After moving to the parking lot of a brewery the following year, she knew she was on to something. She also realized that with two thriving businesses and thoughts of a family, she was stretching herself quite thin.

Fate intervened when Jenny Brown, co-founder of Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary, moved back to Louisville—also her hometown—in 2018. Brown was looking for a new project and Addington knew for the fest to thrive it needed more than she was able to give. In the fall of 2019, Brown took the reins, planning for a 2020 event. COVID quashed it.

Same in 2021.

Finally, last year the revamped Bluegrass VegFest kicked off. The past two years, the event has taken place on the grounds of the Mellwood Art Center, originally the factory of the Fischer Meat Packing Company. Anything is possible. Mellwood provides space for more than 170 artists, galleries, shops, gyms, and restaurants (including Soul Hi Vegan), as well as the sprawling Mellwood Antiques and Interiors, a 45,000-square-foot antique mall/maze in which you can literally get lost.

This year’s fest was divided between five back-to-back lectures and the large indoor vendor area which, for the first time, expanded into the parking lot with a dozen food trucks. Threats of rain and some early showers did nothing to put a damper on the day as the grounds were packed from the start and many vendors ran out of food and wares long before the official 6 pm closing time.

Who attended? As diverse a crowd as this long-time vegan has witnessed at any veg or AR event. Of the more than 6,500 in attendance, I counted infants and children (there’s even a “Kids’ Zone”), Muhammad Ali’s brother, families, straight-edgers, every ethnicity and gender on the planet, sanctuary founders, the usual assortment of the pierced and tatted, and even legendary vegan activist Gary Yourofsky. Overall? Easily Five Stars. This is an event well worth traveling for and easy to do so, as centrally located Louisville is within a day’s drive of a slew of Midwestern towns (see below).

For the past two years, the event has been held in the same place in July. General admission is free and the organizers are determined to keep it that way. Due to its enormous success, festival chair Brown isn’t yet set on 2024 dates. “I’m trying to figure out if we’ll hold it at the same venue or move it,” she admits, acknowledging that they might need a larger space. Check the website for exact details, says Brown. “I hope to have something pinned down by (September).” Whether Bluegrass returns to the Mellwood Art Center or finds a new home, if you are between the Appalachians and the Mississippi River, put this one on your calendar. Just arrive early or you may go hungry.

Top National and Local Speakers
Bluegrass attracts an impressive roster of speakers. Here’s the line-up for the past two BGVFs.

Gene Baur — Co-Founder, Farm Sanctuary
Dotsie Bausch — Olympic medalist; The Game Changers
Soul Eubanks — Social Justice/Animal Rights Activist
John Lewis — BadAss Vegan
Milton Mills, MD — Founder, Plant Based Nation
Karyn Moskowitz — Founder, New Roots Fresh Stop Markets
Toni Okomoto — Founder, Plant-Based on a Budget
Kim Williams, MD — Chairman, Dept. of Medicine, University of Louisville

Food Demos
Kristina Addington — Founder V-Grits and Chimera Brewing
Dawn Hilton Williams — Founder, Herban Eats

Miles to Go…
Nashville is within 400 miles of (at least) 17 cities in 11 states

Lexington, KY — 074
Cincinnati, OH — 099
Indianapolis, IN — 113
Nashville, TN — 174
Columbus, OH — 206
Charleston, WV — 246
Knoxville, TN — 253
St. Louis, MO — 259
Springfield, IL — 282
Chattanooga, TN — 302
Chicago, IL — 302
Cleveland, OH — 348
Asheville, NC — 357
Detroit, MI — 361
Memphis, TN — 375
Pittsburgh, PA — 388
Atlanta, GA — 398