Sedona, Arizona - On January 19 and 20, 2019, Healthy World Sedona will present Sedona VegFest 2019 at the Sedona Performing Arts Center, 995 Upper Red Rock Loop Road. The event will feature speakers, cooking demonstrations, film screenings and exhibitors - all of which will focus on promoting the health, ethical and environmental benefits of a whole food, plant-based (WFPB) diet and lifestyle. The theme for this year’s event is “Healthy. Humane. Sustainable.”
Sedona VegFest 2019 will bring to Sedona some of the most widely respected experts and proponents of WFPB living for informative and motivational presentations. Dr. Joel Kahn, known as “America’s Holistic Heart Doc”, and author of The Whole Heart Solution: Halt Heart Disease Now with the Best Alternative and Traditional Medicine, will deliver the keynote address on using Lifestyle Medicine to prevent and reverse disease via a WFPB diet. Several other widely renowned and highly respected speakers — including Drs. Dean & Ayesha Sherzai, Nil Zacharias, Fiona Oakes, Dr. Joanne Kong, Dr. Will Tuttle, Dr. Saray Stancic and Robert Cheeke — will address additional benefits of this type of diet. These benefits include improved personal health, promotion of the humane treatment of animals and advancement of environmental sustainability.
New features of this year’s event will include an all-day cooking demonstration track and the feature film screening track, offering attendees more opportunities to be informed and inspired. Celebrity Chefs Fran Costigan and Jason Wyrick will be joined by local vegan culinary instructors to demonstrate practical cooking techniques and ways to combine whole food, plant-based ingredients to achieve amazing flavors. Attendees will be engaged, informed and empowered by a broad range of topics, such as Vegan Chocolate: Unapologetically Luscious and Decadent Dairy-Free Desserts and Growing Up Vegan.
Running for Good – produced by Keegan Kuhn, co-director of Cowspiracy and What the Health — will be offered as part of the feature film track. This production showcases Sedona VegFest speaker and vegan marathon runner Fiona Oakes, who runs to raise awareness of animal rights causes. The feature film track will also include Code Blue – Redefining the Practice of Medicine, starring Dr. Saray Stancic, who demonstrates how humans can live longer, healthier lives using the WFPB lifestyle as the prescription. A total of four feature films, presented in a rotating schedule, may be viewed each day to instruct and motivate.
In addition to promoting the WFPB diet to attendees, the Sedona VegFest will offer the joys of whole food, plant-based eating first hand. Through a partnership between our HWS consulting chef and the Sedona Oak Creek School District, school district staff will cater our VegFest lunch. All lunch items will include gluten-free options and will be prepared without added oils. Light fare and beverages will also be available for purchase at the concession stand in the lobby. The lunch menu for Sedona VegFest will include two scrumptious meals, each offered on separate days. Saturday’s menu will boast Italian orecchiette pasta and charred eggplant in a preserved lemon and pistachio pesto, while Sunday’s menu will showcase Southwest bean stew over mango sticky rice with mango-lime salsa and cashew cream. Both menus will include a salad and dessert. Tickets for the luncheon may be purchased in the VegFest exhibit area for $12.50 per day, all inclusive.
The Sedona VegFest endeavors to be a Certified Zero Waste Event through the Sustainability Alliance AZ. Every attempt will be made to reduce waste and reuse materials so recycling can be kept to a minimum. This year, there will be a digital swag bag filled with exhibitor goodies and sponsor promos. In addition, Sedona VegFest will ask attendees to be a part of the global solution and bring their own reusable beverage containers.
Early bird adult registration discounts for either day of Sedona VegFest 2019 are available at $25 per day or $40 for both days, discounted through December 15, 2018. Students with IDs and Veterans may purchase early bird tickets for $15 per day or $25 for both days. Children 12 and under are admitted free with a paid adult.
Healthy World Sedona is actively seeking individuals, organizations or businesses to become part of Sedona VegFest 2019 as sponsors and/or exhibitors. The complete event program, opportunities for sponsorships and a registration portal are available on the Healthy World Sedona website at HealthyWorldSedona.com/VegFest2019.