My Weekend at Vegan Campout 2025 🌱

So, what is Vegan Campout?

Vegan Campout (VCO) is the world’s largest vegan festival set in Hertfordshire. It is 4 days, 3 nights of camping, inspiring talks, music, comedy, yoga/meditation, workshops, and afterparties. Oh, and of course food – one of the best parts of the whole weekend.

The event draws thousands of people every year – everyone from devout, life-long vegans to those simply there for VFC (vegan fried chicken), a perfectly valid reason. It has a great mixture of friendly, like-minded people who are all there because they are passionate about the same cause – doing good for the animals, planet, and people.

It is a weekend of freedom, celebration, and camaraderie.

What did we get up to?

A good selection of everything. We pitched our tents on Friday evening, narrowly missing the outrageous downpour only hours before, and headed up to the main arena. Alongside the main tents, there were a wide variety of small businesses, charities, and activism groups selling everything from clothing, accessories, beauty and skincare products, pet food, jewellery, candles, and coffee. It was great to be able to support businesses who share the same ethical practices and values and meet some inspiring people.

The weekend consisted of:

Live talks: BOSH, Sara Pascoe, Kip Anderson, Clif Grant, Alexis Gauthier, and Calum Harris all made appearances, alongside so many others. Whether you were into nutrition, activism, or comedy – there was something worth listening to.
Yoga in the woods: We started both days with a morning yoga session in the woods, the perfect antidote to a night camping. Saturday’s session was led by Jamie Logan, an animal rights activist, yogi, Youtuber and podcaster. A very cool start to the day.
Music: There was such a wide variety of music, but our personal favourite was a small, indie folk band called Mobius Loop who intertwine activism into their songwriting. They were a big crowd pleaser, bringing so much fun and joy to the stage.
Comedy sets: Sara Pascoe delivered a fab, family friendly set – which was a great way to end the weekend.
Sunshine and storms: in true British summer fashion. One minute we were eating ice cream in shorts, the next minute we were huddled under a tent wrapped in our picnic blanket, (with a pitta in hand).

Some of my personal highlights were:

Clif Grant: an outreach activist whose work deeply resonates with me and who was one of the first activists I interacted with when I was discovering veganism.
Calum Harris: Calum perfectly connects and speaks to the younger generation of ‘Instagram vegans’, his content is always entertaining, and his recipes are banging.
Alexis Gauthier: is the first chef to earn a Michelin star for his vegan restaurant, Gauthier Soho. Alexis is incredibly inspiring, he not only turned his successful Michelin-star restaurant vegan overnight, but he also continues to spread the vegan message in such an important, and often difficult setting – the professional kitchen.
Molly Elwood: Molly created an organic dog meat farm, a global and viral movement that through dark humour and sharp satire asks people to question why we love some animals and eat others. Her talk was so eloquently written and delivered, and made the whole audience laugh. There was a beautiful understanding amongst the audience.

The food! (It deserves its own section)

I cannot overstate how good the food was.

This year’s festival had 60 vendors who sold everything from stacked burgers, to sushi, loaded fries, fish and chips, poke bowls and the best chocolate ice cream we’ve ever eaten. It was truly a plant-based paradise.

Highlights included:

Chill Gelato: for that ice cream. You will just have to try it and then you’ll know.
Wholesome Junkies: we tried their chilli jam cheeseburger and fries – so melty, crispy and flavourful.
What the Pitta: both their classic gyros and their chicken-style gyros were fully loaded and a delight for the tastebuds. These guys are also paving the way in making vegan food mainstream, which is awesome to see.
Gourmet Poke: when we craved something fresher, these bowls hit the spot. I tried the ‘zalmon’ bowl and my partner had the lemon and herb chicken. Check out this great spot if you’re ever in Bristol.
Fluff: the fluffiest little doughnut balls topped with pistachio cream, chocolate drizzle and flaked almonds and pistachios. A sweet tooth’s dream.
Happy Maki: The opportunity to try vegan sushi was really cool, and it did not disappoint. We shared the hoisin duck sushi roll, which was packed full of flavour.
Plantuguese: the best pastel de nata I have ever eaten. I wish I had eaten more.

But the best part? No label checking, no awkward ‘is this vegan’, no compromises. Just 100% plant-based food.

Why you should go

VCO is celebrating 10 years next year and is on from August 14-17^th. Whether you’re vegan, curious, or just love a good festival vibe, VCO is a weekend full of connection, inspiration, and very full tummies. It reminded me that being part of a movement is powerful, and that people can drive real change. But it also importantly reminded me that it doesn’t have to be heavy – it can be joyful, loud, and delicious.

Plus, you’ll leave with: