A celebration of healthy, sustainable, and compassionate eating with vegan food, vendors, performances, and cooking demos.
Charlotte VegFest returns to Victoria Yards on Saturday, October 10, from 12 PM to 6 PM. It's a day built around plant-based eating, with vegan food, vendors, performances, and cooking demos. If you're looking for a low-stakes way to spend a Saturday afternoon in Uptown, this is it.
It's a big jump from where it started. The festival began in 2012 as a small gathering in a parking lot with only a handful of vendors, and it's grown into a regional event since then. Past editions in 2022 and 2023 drew an estimated 6,000 attendees and up to 200 plant-based vendors. Before settling at Victoria Yards, an open-air venue in Uptown, it was held at the Ford Building at Camp North End, a 240,000-square-foot former Model T assembly plant built in 1924.
Behind the scenes, the festival is run by Charlotte VegFest, Inc., a federally recognized 501(c)(3) nonprofit powered by a volunteer committee. They describe their work as being dedicated to plant-based living, sustainability, and animal welfare. In April 2023, Jameka S. Whitten was elected as the organization's first Black president. The group also stages a spring mini-event, Charlotte VegFest Jr. In June 2025, PETA named Charlotte one of the top vegan-friendly U.S. cities, citing the festival as part of the reason.
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Admission is free, and the main event runs from 12 PM to 6 PM at Victoria Yards, 209 E. 7th Street in Uptown Charlotte. If you're looking to get in early, VIP Early Access starts at 11 AM.
