09/02/23 Vučković, Tomašević and Milanović Visit ZeGeVege Festival!
High attendance at the greenest of festivals in the heart of Zagreb
- September 1 and 2, Europe Square: over seventy exhibitors, six restaurants, educational program…
Animal Friends Croatia, organizers of the popular Veggie Festival, can be truly satisfied with the 15th festival that took place on September 1 and 2. The tourist, economic and educational value of this event was recognized by numerous exhibitors and visitors, as well as the Mayor Tomislav Tomašević, the Minister of Agriculture Marija Vučković representing the Croatian Government, and the Croatian President Zoran Milanović.
Accompanied by Luka Oman, President of Animal Friends Croatia, they casually strolled among 70 stands representing healthy and cruelty-free food, cosmetics and cleaning product manufacturers, eco-friendly farmers, producers of environmentally friendly products, and environmental and animal welfare group representatives. They were offered delicious treats by six restaurants that had prepared local, Thai, Lebanese, Japanese, Indian, and Venezuelan vegan dishes, including vegan burgers, falafel, vegan sausages, and numerous other delicacies.
“We are thrilled to see that our Veggie Festival has been recognized as a meeting point for all those who care about animal welfare, health, environment, and sustainable living. High attendance and interest shown by the public both for displayed products and educational stage talks, show that veganism can be for everyone, not just vegans! As the visitors to the festival stated, each one of us can do a lot for the animals and the planet by simply reducing the consumption of animal products, and even more by going vegan,” stated Luka Oman.
Animal Friends Croatia claims one thing is for sure: no one left the festival, hungry, with empty cloth bags, without a recipe brochure, or without new information on why vegan food can save the planet.
The goal of the festival is to introduce visitors to the abundantly available local vegan ingredients, and thus inspire them through this wholesome experience to live in a more sustainable way, with a lower environmental footprint and without endangering animal and human welfare.
The 15th Veggie Festival has been visited by: Aljoša Duplić, DSc, Head of the Environmental Protection Institute of the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development; Bruna Prlina and Ozren Totić from Zagreb Tourist Board; Sandra Benčić, President of the Parliamentary Environmental Protection Committee and Philippe Lamberts, President of the Greens/EFA of the European Parliament; Marija Špehar, DSc from the Croatian Agency for Agriculture and Food; Jurica Ambrožić, Head of City Council Office for Economy, Environmental Sustainability and Strategic Planning Department for Animal Welfare and Veterinarian Affairs; MP Domagoj Hajduković; Velibor Mačkić, Special Advisor to the President of the Republic of Croatia for Economy; Luka Korlaet, DSc and Danijela Dolenec, DSc, Deputy Mayors of the City of Zagreb, and Dinka Živalj, spokesperson for the Mayor of the City of Zagreb.