Atlantic City Vegan Food Festival 2021

Event organizers Marisa Sweeney and Kendra Arnold thought their company had arrived when tickets sold out for their Valentine’s Weekend VegFest at Asbury Park’s Convention Hall in February 2020.

Then came the lockdown. The plant-based food festival company launched by Sweeney and Arnold in 2015 had been gaining a loyal and enthusiastic following with its vegetarian and vegan pop-ups and festivals. As Covid-19 put a halt to large-scale gatherings, the two entrepreneurs put event planning on hold and looked for ways to help support their event vendors during the pandemic. They spent the year developing theveganlocal.com, an online vegan specialty store where vendors could sell remotely. And they waited.

The wait finally came to an end in May 2021 with the announcement of the Atlantic City Vegan Food Festival 2021, happening Saturday and Sunday, July 17—18 at the Showboat Hotel on the Boardwalk. Sweeney and Arnold are working closely with the hotel as well as with city officials and the local health department to present a safe, primarily outdoor, event.

Over 100 vendors will be on hand from across the U.S., including NJ-based favorites Freakin’ Vegan (“always a heavy hitter”), Lady and the Shallot, Yeah Dawg, Route 9 Baking (“a huge draw”), and others. Along with food options, attendees will also find sustainable and plant-based clothing, skincare treatments, home accessories, and other items.

“That’s how we see the plant-based movement in New Jersey growing,” says Sweeney. “[We’re] growing a change. Our events bring awareness to vegan and plant-based options, and make vegan and plant-based living easier. We’re helping people to live responsibly and sustainably.”

More than 800 tickets for the Atlantic City event sold within the first week of sales—a new record for the company—with ticket buyers hailing from more than 20 states and territories. Additional events are in the works for later in 2021; as of press time, sites under consideration include Asbury Park and the Meadowlands in East Rutherford.

Clearly, the company has arrived and, as the NJ VegFest team often says, #thefutureisvegan. 

For tickets and more info: theveganlocal.com