The Giant Northern Vegan Festival returns

This month sees the return of one of the biggest celebrations of vegan food in the country.

185 stalls will be presenting the best in vegan food and cooking, and Manchester is the perfect venue with a higher than average percentage of the population here opting for meat free or vegan diets. There's even been recent press interest in celebrities who are vegan, such as Ellie Goulding, Sia and Miley Cyrus, with articles focussing on their dietary choices.

In fact Greater Manchester has the second largest number of vegetarian and vegan cafes and restaurants in the UK after London. Vegetarians are on the increase in Britain, 12% of Britons are now vegetarian or vegan, and 20% of 16-24 year olds, with health and environmental concerns being the main drivers of vegetarianism's and veganism's growing popularity. 

As three of the festival's film screenings point out, recent reports from the United Nations point to the meat industry as the number one threat to the environment, making the festival more timely than ever.

But organisers are keen to point out that all are welcome - even curious meat eaters. Apart from the 185 stalls, which include 16 caterers offering a wide variety of vegan food (Indian, Caribbean, Malaysian, Mexican, Turkish, American street food, and British), and numerous other food stalls, including a vegan pet food stall, 2 vegan shoe stalls, and numerous charities and campaign groups, there will be a vegan beer and cider festival at the Thirsty Scholar vegetarian/vegan food pub, free food from numerous vegan companies, films and talks all day, children's book readings, and speed meeting and dating.

The Giant Northern Vegan Festival, Sachas Hotel and The Methodist Church, Manchester City Centre, Saturday 17 October 2015 from 10am to 6pm. 

See Time Out Manchester's favourite places to get a meat free meal.