Media Release

For immediate use
15 November, 2005

‘Overwhelming success’ for Viva!’s Incredible Veggie Show at Wembley

An unprecedented number of people flocked to the Wembley Conference Centre for Europe’s largest ever vegetarian event, Viva!’s Incredible Veggie Show, last Saturday 12 November. 5,000 people attended the Show – its popularity exceeding all expectations. Everything you could ever have wanted to know about going, being or staying veggie/vegan was on tap, including delicious food tastings from vegan food manufacturers.

The Incredible Veggie Show was organised by campaigns group Viva! as part of its 10th anniversary celebrations. It followed the hugely successful series of Incredible Veggie Roadshows which have toured the UK for the past 12 months - from Canterbury to Cardiff, Solihull to Southampton, 12 venues in all and each one packed to capacity. The shows have attracted 25,000 visitors in total, drawing in existing veggies, those looking to make a switch to a more compassionate vegetarian lifestyle and those simply looking to cut down on their meat consumption. Pledges from visitors to change will potentially save the lives of over 2 million animals.

The Incredible Veggie Show saw Rose Elliot MBE, the queen of vegetarian cookery, give free demonstrations to a packed out auditorium; Professor Jane Plant CBE, who has beaten cancer five times, talked about her diet for health; nutritionist Gareth Zeal outlined the basics of healthy living; Viva!’s director Juliet Gellatley talked about why you don’t need dairy for good health, and TV presenter Wendy Turner-Webster presented a celebrity auction. The Show proved to be a brilliant family day out, with 90 exhibitors showing everything from vegetarian food and drink to clothing and footwear, cosmetics and toiletries to baby products. 

Viva! is an international animal campaigning group with offices in the UK, USA and Poland. It carries out undercover investigations to expose animal abuse and successes include ending the sale of ‘exotic’ meats such as kangaroo and crocodile by all big supermarkets, stopping the debeaking of ducks in the UK, slashing the export of Polish ‘meat’ horses to the EU and persuading a US supermarket chain to entirely rewrite its animal welfare codes.

“We are absolutely delighted that so many people attended The Incredible Veggie Show. I believe it indicates a fundamental change in people’s attitudes to animal cruelty, health and the state of the planet. It was a fun day out and a celebration of veggie living but the underlying message was deadly serious,” says Juliet Gellatley, Viva!’s international director.

Colourful images from the day can be viewed at:

http://www.viva.org.uk/roadshows/post_wembley (Hi-res versions are downloadable from the page)

Due to an unprecedented demand, Viva!’s new It’s Time to Go Veggie magazine ran out on the day. The colourful 40 page guide, which provides all the information anyone could ever want to help them change to a healthier diet, is available free of charge from Viva! for anyone who missed out. To obtain a free copy simply ring Viva! on 0117 944 1000, email info@viva.org.uk or write to Viva! at 8 York Court, Wilder Street, Bristol BS2 8QH.  Web: www.viva.org.uk.

The Incredible Veggie Show was sponsored by Beanie’s Health Foods (Wholesale) Ltd, Plamil Foods Ltd, The Redwood Wholefood Company Ltd, Fresh & Wild, Viva! and the Vegetarian & Vegan Foundation.

For any more information on the Show please contact Justin Kerswell on 0117 944 1000 or email justin@viva.org.uk

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