Richmond Vegetarian Festival draws thousands

They came, they saw, they ate healthy.

Herbivores mingled peacefully with omnivores in the azalea gardens at Richmond's Bryan Park, flaunting their fare and offering some lifestyle education.

The seventh annual Richmond Vegetarian Festival brought out nearly 5,000 to the free event despite the blistering heat. As always, food took center stage, followed closely by the canine attendees.

Tawny, a 4-month-old pit bull up for adoption through Richmond-based Ring Dog Rescue, drew a crowd. She was found recently with bite marks to her neck and is now in the care of Bill and Cindy Cloughly of Williamsburg while a family is found.

"She has the heart of a lion," said Bill, who brought her to the festival to interact with people and other dogs and meet potential parents. "She's just absolutely excited to be out here."

About 100 booths filled the garden lawn. Vendors offered a range of cuisines including Ethiopian, Thai, Indian and Mediterranean. Ellwood Thompson's Local Market even represented North Carolina with some soy barbecue. Many finished their meals with Phoenix Garden Restaurant's vegan funnel cake.

Other booths had representatives from businesses, nonprofits and humane organizations.

Trish Burton of Richmond and a group of friends sat in a circle on the grass eating and chatting while the band Antero played on stage.

"It's good vegan food and great people with similar interests like animal rights," she said. "And you can find out where all the good new vegan restaurants are."

Ten-year-old Devin Huffman was visiting his grandmother from Farmville when they decided to check things out.

"I wanted to see the dogs and all the stuff, meet new people and try new things," he said, knocking back the remnants of a melted snow cone.

Devin's friend Brooke Thomas joined him and said she'd enjoyed a few of the vegetarian treats.

"It's pretty good," she said. But asked whether she'd be considering the lifestyle full-time, she was quick to respond: "Not me. I eat a lot of meat in my house."

The festival's founder, Henrico County veterinarian Christopher D. Patterson, said the event was primarily for the unconverted.

"You have the option of coming out, just having fun, eating food, listing to music and buying some stuff, and you don't have to learn anything about vegetarianism really. But that information is there," he said.

"People who are interested in vegetarianism or who I would consider a fence-sitting vegetarian, that might be interested in considering it or adding a few vegetarian items to their menu every week -- that's who I'm trying to reach."

Contact Wesley P. Hester at (804) 649-6976 or .