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Can we all agree that a food truck festival is insanely delicious? The high energy, aromatic comfort foods, fresh air, lively music — it’s a vibe. This past year in 2021, a specific festival pulled my stomach towards it. Vegandale, the largest growing vegan festival, officially made its way to the sunshine state of California.
While you’ll find it in a of couple cities throughout North America, this one was special to me because it’s in Southern California, my home state. If you’re curious about what a Vegandale is or what vegan festival food is like, keep on scrolling down.
First off, when I first heard about the festival, I immediately knew we wanted to attend because, let’s be honest, comfort food is hard to come by when you’re vegan(ish)! It’s also hard to find comfort gluten-free food too. Luckily, there’s allergy-friendly travel apps to make the process less daunting.
Still, having a magnitude of choices in one place is heaven sent. Imagine sweet vegan donuts stuffed with jam, strawberry coconut ice cream and mozzarella sticks. This is exactly what savory escapades await for you at the food truck festival in LA.
Not to mention, it’s a great way to tenderly introduce more plant based options to your loved ones! Likewise, non-vegans get to sample vegan food, and vegans get to indulge in hearty comfort food. I’d say that’s a win-win in my mind.
For instance Evan and my friend who went are both not vegans. Evan is used to the vegan scene since we’re married. He’s always been super encouraging and adventurous when it comes to trying new foods. Meanwhile, this was my friend’s first experience with vegan food. At first she was a tad hesitant to try some things because she doesn’t eat pork for religious reasons and many of the food items, specially the chili cheese dogs resembled the appearance of pork.
She asked the booth owner three times if it had pork in it, just to be safe. As soon as she sunk her teeth into the vegan dog, her eyes lit up. Immediately, she was hooked and went back for more serving.
Below you’ll find all you need to know about attending Vegandale in Los Angeles, CA.
What is Vegandale?
Vegandale is one of the fastest growing vegan food and drink festivals in the continent of North America. All vendors are completely vegan, ranging from beverages to clothing lines, yummy food to CBD products, and other house hold goods.
Each year the line up may change to host local establishments, mom and pop shops, and out of town guests. All vendors and sponsor line ups are uploaded onto their site beforehand.
When and where is Vegandale?
Where: Los Angeles State Historic Park, 1245 N Spring St, Los Angeles, CA 90012
When: October 22, 2022
Time: 11:00 am – 7:00 pm
The dates change each year and are dependent on which festival location you want to attend. Last year in 2021, it was Vegandale’s first year in Los Angeles and it was held on October 23rd. In 2022 it will be held on October 22nd.
So far it seems that the dates are around the last two weeks of October. I’m thinking this will be the normal time frame as they move forward, but it’s only the second year and it’s always best to check the website to be certain.
Besides Los Angeles, this food truck festival is also held in:
| City | Date | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Toronto | August 6, 2022 | TBA |
| Chicago | June 11, 2022 | TBA |
| Dallas | November 12, 2022 | TBA |
| Miami | May 21, 2022 | Historic Virginia Key Beach Park |
| New York | September 24, 2022 | Randall’s Island Park |
The cost of visiting the food truck festival
There are a couple different prices when it comes to ordering tickets to the vegan festival. Early bird tickets are $10. During the month of the festival, tickets are available on their website for either a morning entry time, starting at 11:00 am that are good for all day, or an evening entry time starting at 3:00pm. The prices do increase then to about $15 or $20 depending which entry time you choose. Again, these options will become available as it gets closer to the festival date.
Going in a group? Grab group tickets which comes in a pack of 4 and cuts down the price. The early bird group tickets are $30 for four people. During the month of the festival tickets rise to $40 for four people.
All tickets are e-tickets and are emailed after purchase.
Parking
Keep in mind it does cost to park in the parking lot outside the venue in Los Angeles. While there’s parking around the area, the parking lot is by far the most convenient. I wouldn’t bank on snagging a free parking spot unless you’re going first thing in the morning, as the afternoon draws the crowds.
Also, it’s $20 to park in the parking lot.
In addition if you have an accessible placard, it does not work in the parking lot. You’ll still have to pay and they cannot guarantee closer parking. I had to park relatively far from the entrance even with my placard, but it was still better than street parking.
What I loved about this vegan food truck festival
The amazing taste of the food
Get your morning workout in because you’re about to be grubbing at this festival!
The food was hands-down one of the best things about this food and drink festival. However, the absolute best part was that I won free tickets to Vegandale, free swag, goodie bags and unlimited food at the TMRW booth. It was such a blessing. I’d say this would influence anyone’s experience at this type of event, let alone virgin vegan festival goers (guilty). Who doesn’t like free food?
Nevertheless, the TMRW booth and a couple other booths do provide free food samples. At the TMRW booth, they had chili cheese dogs, al pastor tacos and cheeseburgers. The tacos were insanely delightful with a creamy sauce and pickled onions. While I personally didn’t try the cheeseburgers and chili dogs (had gluten in them) Evan said they were amazing. Also, the sauce was rich and paired perfectly with the burger meat.
Another one of the best things about the festival was the variety of food options for vegans and dairy-free folks. Additionally, there were options for sweet and savory snacks, Southern BBQ, pizza, shaved ice, hamburgers, tacos, cookies, wings, fried oyster mushrooms, sandwiches and more.
Here’s a couple photos of the scrumptious foods you’ll find amongst the vendor line-up.
The lively environment at the food truck festival
Moreover, the ambiance of the park was beautiful. With the skyline in the background, warm weather post rain, fragrant foods and the lively DJ ushering in community fun, it was a buoyant and entertaining event suitable for the family.
Inside, you’ll find food trucks lining the outer layer of the park, while the inner areas consisted of pop-up tents packed with more foods, clothing and beverages.
The art installations
Lastly, the art installations were both entertaining and dazzling. Upon entering the grounds, these will be the first things you’ll set your eyes upon. Giant murals, photo props scattered about and hilarious pop-up quotes reminding us about commonalities amongst the community — the intersection of veganism, sustainability and lifestyle.
Furry friends are also welcome to come!
What I didn’t like about the food truck festival
While vegan was everywhere (rightly so it’s a vegan festival), there weren’t that many gluten-free options. This was a huge bummer. I did my research beforehand to make sure there were options for gluten-free foodies to indulge in, and while there were some, it was pretty low numbers. All of the ice cream and shaved ice options were gluten-free (as they are naturally). Also, there was a cookie shop that had gluten-free options, a donut food truck, oyster mushrooms and a tasty mozzarella stick booth that sold gluten-free mozzarella sticks.
Besides those, there were maybe two other booths which had options. However, you really had to dig to find out which those they were. Overall, there was a lack of the options for the gluten-free vegan eaters. This is one area I hope to see grow in the future. It would even be nice to have gluten-free vegan area within the festival. Maybe I’m hoping for too much, but it’d be nice!
At the end of the day, I really enjoyed my experience and will definitely be back next year!
More travel and vegan resources
- How To Juggle Food Allergies & Travel In 6 Easy Ways
- The Best Festival To Visit In Barcelona
- 15 Prettiest Beaches In Northern California
- Unique Things To Do In Orange County
- The Best Vegan Snacks To Order Off Amazon Today
This is my honest review about the Vegandale Festival in LA. While I won free tickets, I was not invited on as a guest to attend this event. Further info about Vegandale can be found here.
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