On Saturday 16 May 2009, Victoria Square in Birmingham City Centre will be transformed by Veggie Pride UK - a fantastic celebration of vegetarian and vegan lifestyles. It`s an opportunity for everyone following compassionate, eco-friendly, healthy lifestyles to come together for a fun, carnival style event whilst also raising awareneness of the many benefits - for human health, animals, environment etc.

Veggie Pride UK will include info & product stalls, live music & entertainers, a vibrant & colourful carnival procession, best costume/banner contest and lots, lots more...!!

This will be a totally unique event, the first ever Veggie Pride in the UK. Never before has an outdoor veggie/vegan festival been staged in such a prominent position, where many 1,000`s of people will flow past during the day. And never before has a carnival procession been solely devoted to the celebration and promotion of compassionate, healthy and eco-friendly lifestyles! Make sure you`re part of this amazing event!


STALLS 10am - 6pm

Dozens of stalls will offer all kinds of cruelty-free products, information and of course lots and lots of delicious vegan food. Caterers confirmed so far are Veggies  http://www.veggies.org.uk and Green Garden Cafe  http://www.greengardencafe.co.uk


ENTERTAINMENT 11am - 6pm

The festival will include live stage entertainment, with bands, singers and guest speakers between 11am - 6pm. A list of all the entertainment and a programme will be displayed on our website as soon as possible. As well as on the main stage, there will be entertainers and talented people all round the square, creating a vibrant, carnival atmosphere. There will be clowns, jugglers, dancers, poets, musicians, story tellers, a samba band and lots more...!! Please get in touch if you`d like to offer some form of entertainment.


CARNIVAL PROCESSION - 1pm

This will be a vibrant and colourful parade through the city streets, featuring a samba band and kids block! We hope to attract the attention of 1,000`s of shoppers by wearing lots of colourful costumes and waving banners, flags, streamers etc. We want you to think about what costume you could wear - maybe dress up as a vegetable, animal or super hero! Or you could dress in your work uniform - eg. a chef or nurse, possibly whilst carrying an appropriate placard! Or maybe you could wear your leisure/sports clothes - eg. Vegan Runners top or football outfit, complete with football!! You could get ideas by viewing the photos from last years Veggie Pride Parade in New York, see  http://www.veggieprideparade.org You don`t have to hire or buy a costume. Perhaps you could make a simple outfit or pick one up off your local Freecycle group  http://www.freecycle.org

If you don`t fancy wearing a costume, make yourself a colourful banner or placard with a thought provoking message. Remember, this is a celebration not a protest, so no gory images please! We want to attract lots of attention and leave people in no doubt of all the benefits of veggie/vegan lifestyles!

The kids block will be a section of the parade where children can march together, with their own costumes, banners etc. If your children/family would like to join the kids block, you can contact Lesley Dove to pledge your support and discuss plans - email  lesley@vegan4life.org.uk


BEST COSTUME / BANNER CONTEST - 2.30pm

After the procession, we will be awarding prizes for the best costumes and banners. This is an incentive for you to put lots of effort into your costumes, banners and props. Please use your imagination and be creative...you may well win a prize!!


FUNDRAISING GIG IN THE EVENING

When Veggie Pride comes to an end, we hope you`ll join us at our benefit gig at a pub in the city centre. More details will be announced shortly.


TRANSPORT

Transport is already being organised from London, Bristol, Manchester and Yorkshire - contact details will be displayed on our website shortly. If you can arrange coach or minibus transport (or even just car sharing) from your area, please contact us as soon as possible and we`ll display the details.


HOW YOU CAN HELP!

There are various ways you can help to publicise the event: Display a web banner/link on your website etc - See  http://www.veganmidlands.org.uk/veggiepride/banners.html

Order or download our leaflets - see  http://www.veganmidlands.org.uk/veggiepride/help.html#leaflets

Become our friend and pledge to attend on Myspace, Facebook and PledgeBank! - See  http://www.myspace.com/veggieprideuk ,  http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=53925241834 and  http://www.pledgebank.com/VeggiePrideUK


DONATIONS

The costs involved with organising Veggie Pride UK are very high. Costs include printing (and other publicity), hire of various essentials (stage, sound equipment, gazebos etc), electricity, insurance and possibly even road closures! We will cut down on costs wherever possible but it`s clear that we need lots of financial support! Whether you`re an individual or a group, please consider sending a donation. Any amount that you can give will be very much appreciated and will help to ensure the success of Veggie Pride UK. Please make cheques payable to `Midlands Vegan Campaigns` and post to Veggie Pride UK, PO Box 10202, Redditch, Worcs. B98 8YT.


SPONSORS

We are extremely grateful to the following organisations & companies for sponsoring Veggie Pride UK. Without their support, this event would not be taking place. If your ethical company/organisation would like to sponsor the event, please contact us as soon as possible.

The Vegan Society  http://www.vegansociety.com
Animal Aid  http://www.animalaid.org.uk
Yaoh  http://www.yaoh.co.uk
Sheese  http://www.buteisland.com


EVENT WEBSITE

Many more details can be found on our new Veggie Pride website, which will be constantly updated as more and more details and attractions are confirmed. Take a look here  http://www.veggiepride.org.uk

We look forward to seeing you on the day!

Best wishes,
MVC