A celebration of plant-based eating, among other sustainable and healthy lifestyle choices, is taking place this weekend at Riverfront Park.
 
The second annual Veg-Out Festival will round up vendors with a range of health and wellness specialties for the Oct. 22 event. James Christopher, co-owner of event organizer Cool Wilmington, said the goal is to connect people to information that helps them adopt healthier lifestyles during a free, fun event.
 
The idea came from Christopher’s wife, fellow co-owner of Cool Wilmington and a “California girl” who attended similar free events while the couple lived in Los Angeles.
 
“These kinds of events are very popular in California,” Christopher said. “She wanted to bring that concept here.”
 
Vegetarian and vegan cuisine is one element of healthy living emphasized at the festival, but Christopher said that focus is not meant to exclude anyone.
 
“You don’t have to be exclusively vegetarian or vegan to come down and enjoy the event,” he said.
 
Cool Wilmington partnered with Pat Green, local chef and owner of Soulful Twist food truck, to create a menu of vegetarian dishes for sale during the festival. Green came up with a Southern-inspired array of choices including crispy fried green tomatoes stacks layered with fresh mozzarella and balsamic glaze, chipotle mushroom tacos and jalapeno and pimento black bean burgers. Sides of apple coleslaw, okra and hand-cut French fries round out Green’s offerings.
 
Vegetarian hot dogs by Lisa’s Haute Dogs, vegan ice cream by Vegan Ice Cream Man and Italian lemonade by Island Squeeze are other plant-based provisions available for visitors. Christopher said the lemonade is squeezed by hand at the event.
 
“They make it right there. It’s not too sweet,” he said.
 
Some businesses will do demonstrations for those new to vegetarian and vegan cooking. Dojo Fresh will show people how to prepare their plant-based protein crumbles, a substitute for ground meat, and The Green House Restaurant will tout the aeroponic tower gardens used to grow greens and herbs for salads and other vegan fare.

Dozens of other vendors slated for the festival include nutritionists, health care providers, green beauty purveyors, fitness instructors and more. Yoga and meditation sessions will take place throughout the day and Christopher encouraged visitors to bring a yoga mat.
 
Four speakers are scheduled to share insights on topics such as making healthy lifestyle choices sustainable, the therapeutic properties of plants, stress management techniques and face yoga as an alternative to Botox.
 
“I’ve seen the before and after pictures of people she’s worked with, and it’s a real thing. It really works,” Christopher said of the latter.
 
The festival kicks off with a “tri-wellness” 5k walk and run, guided yoga and a meditation session at 10 a.m. with vendors opening their booths for business from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m.