With an entire Bake Off episode dedicated to creating beautiful and delicious dairy and meat-free food, veganism is certainly having its moment in the spotlight.

Jamie Bowman speaks to the organiser behind this weekend’s North Wales Vegan Festival, to find out more...

VEGANISM hit the mainstream last week when Great British Bake Off challenged its contestants to ditch the dairy and start baking vegan-style.

The six bakers were asked to create savoury tartlets with shortcrust pastry, tropical meringues and a celebration cake and many of the usual vegan staples were in abundance in the white tent from coconut oil, aquafaba and nutritional yeast to falafel, hummus and cashew cheese.

"It was so good," says Victoria Bryceson, founder of Vegan Events UK. "To have what was basically a vegan cookery show on the TV is unheard of and I thought it was amazing.

"Over the last couple of years it has really felt that veganism is starting to grow and the last year especially has seen a massive boom. It feels like everyone is talking about it but what has been different about the last week has been that it's non-vegans too."

Vegan Events UK is behind the first ever North Wales Vegan Festival which will take place at Plas Coch Sports Centre in Wrexham on Saturday, October 20.

The organisers are promising a feast of mouth wateringly delicious food with 80 stalls, world food caterers, cookery demonstrations, interactive workshops, yoga and children's activities running throughout the day.

There will be a great selection of non food stalls at the event selling a wide variety of items including fashion, footwear, jewellery, beauty and skincare products, candles, crafts, clothing, footwear, homeware, gifts and charity merchandise.

As well as stalls to look round, there will also be a wide range of free food samples to try, live music, inspirational talks, live cookery demonstrations, workshops and children’s activities.

Festival organiser Victoria says: “With the vegan lifestyle really starting to go mainstream there’s a massive demand for vegan-friendly events.

"The North Wales festival is set to be a fantastic day out whether you’re vegetarian, vegan or simply vegan-curious. The idea behind the festival is to educate and inform everyone about the vegan lifestyle and offer support to anybody who would like it.”

Going vegan has transformed Victoria’s life; “I’ve never felt happier and healthier,” she says after starting the festival with the aim of promoting animal welfare and how to live a more ethical and healthy lifestyle.

“There will be several animal welfare charity stalls raising awareness of their causes," she says. "For anybody who would like to get involved with volunteering this is an ideal place to talk.

"For me I became vegan through my love of animals and if you talk to a lot of vegans that is a key factor. Recently though, for some people, it is becoming more about the environment and health and they are becoming more aware and doing their own research - it's really spreading."

Back on Bake Off, judge Paul Hollywood confessed that he hadn’t been too keen on the idea of a vegan round, but that it had shown him that it was "possible to create great-tasting food" without using eggs or dairy.

“It’s all about trying new things and opening people’s eyes to new possibilities,” continues Victoria. “Cutting out meat and dairy from your diet is easier than you might think and many people are increasingly looking for alternatives as they want to live more healthily and ethically. They want to find out more about the new innovative foods and recipes now available and want to do it affordably. Our festival will educate people on how to do all of this.

"I went vegan years ago and back then there was nothing in the supermarkets, no vegan ready meals or cheeses but now it is a very different story. If you go into any of the main supermarkets there will be an entire vegan section and they just have one or two options but shelves and shelves of vegan food.

"The key thing to tell people is that whatever you think you can't do without, whether it's cheese, chocolate or bacon, now comes in a vegan version and there are hundreds and hundreds of different varieties.

"You don't have to miss out on anything and instead it is a case of substituting rather than giving up."

As well as work with Vegan Events UK, Victoria is also the founder of animal welfare and education charity Miracle's Mission, a non profit animal welfare organisation that works with sick, injured and difficult animals.

"When I was nine-years-old I got my first pet and that's when something clicked about where our meet comes from," she says. "It's just really simple for me in that I love animals too much to eat them."

It is estimated that around 3.5m British people now eat only plants and whether it is because they no longer want to endorse the meat and dairy industries, or because going vegan can be one of the easiest and most effective ways to help the environment, Victoria is keen to promote the idea with the event's huge range of pies, cakes, chocolates, cookies, doughnuts, sandwiches and salads designed to convert a confirmed meat eater like me.

"The hot food is outstanding," she says. "You should try a hot dog or a burger because we've had so many people saying they can't tell the difference in taste.

"I'd also try the cakes because to look at them you just wouldn't have a clue they were vegan - if you tasted them you just wouldn't be able to tell which is always the sign of vegan food.

"We will also have loads of free samples so you can always try first and try a really variety - there's even a bar there with vegan beer, wine and cocktails."

Victoria, who is based in Carlisle in Cumbria, is also making a pledge to help Wrexham's homeless community while also helping to reduce food waste at the event by asking stall holders to donate any surplus food at the end of the festival to volunteers who will then donate it to local homeless people.

"There's few things I hate more than waste," she adds. "There are people all over the world dying of starvation and it is also happening here in the UK so why are we throwing out so much food which is perfectly edible when we could give it to people who would both enjoy and benefit it?

"No food will be thrown out and it will all be donated to homeless people in Wrexham."

The North Wales Vegan Festival takes place on Saturday October 20, 2018 between 10.30am and 4.30pm at Plas Coch Sports Centre, Wrexham LL11 2AW. Entry is £3 (under 16’s free) and this includes entry to all areas and activities.

Standard tickets are purchased at the door on the day. VIP tickets, £15, include fast track entry and a goody bag full of vegan products, samples, discounts and offers can be purchased in advance but sell out quickly.

For more information please visit www.veganeventsuk.co.uk or www.facebook.com/VeganEventsUK