Among Saturday’s highlights are a speech by Bizarro cartoonist Dan Piraro and a tickets-only catered vegan dinner (meaning pay in advance, seating limited), at which $15 will get you a cooked meal and $20 will get you a gourmet raw one. On Sunday, Howard Lyman, The Mad Cowboy, will speak about “Global Warming and Your Diet”, and a yoga workshop on the green in front of the building will allow you to spend the early afternoon in outdoor bliss. Both days will feature festival favorites Chinese acrobat Wayne Huey and jazz band Turning Point. If none of those options appeal to you, one of the multitudes of other food workshops (complete with free samples), speakers, and performances on the agenda is bound to; the festival is literally packed with them.

“Our idea was to feature World & International cuisine, lectures, and speakers to demonstrate the variety of food available, and the variety of reasons for being a vegetarian - health, compassion, spiritual paths, and ecological values, including the effects on global warming,” said SFVS president Dixie Mahy. Apparently this idea caught on with lots of other people too, as last year attendance was around 3,500 people. The Vegetarian Society is hoping for many more this year.

“This is a celebration of ‘life’ for vegetarians & vegans,” said Mahy. “But, we encourage non-vegetarians to come and sample the food, listen to some lectures, watch the entertainment, and have a good time!”

And I, as both an expert on all things fun and a vegetarian, encourage you to do the same.

8th Annual World Veg Festival Weekend
Golden Gate Park / San Francisco County Fair Building (9th and Lincoln)
10 am-6 pm Sat. and Sun. Dinner Sat. 6:30 with ticket only.
Suggested Donation-$5
Free to all kids, seniors, and students with ID.
www.sfvs.org
415-273-5481