FOOD lovers descended on Oxford’s Kassam Stadium this weekend to celebrate the growing hordes of foodies to embrace veganism.

There were more than 100 stalls with a variety of talks and demonstrations from vegan experts, animal rights groups and craft makers at the third Oxford Vegan Festival.

The day-long event which was held on Saturday attracted over a thousand people from the un-initiated gastronomes to the vegetarian aficionados.

One of the organisers behind the event Bethany Pocklington praised the turnout for the day and said that veganism, once niche, was fast becoming mainstream.

The 22-year old said: “We are trying to encourage more people to get involved in the vegan lifestyle.

“We have got craft stalls and campaign groups as well as food here, and there is something for everybody.

“It is more and more mainstream, you see it everywhere now. A few years back if someone said you were vegan you would take a step back but now it is very normal.”

As well as promoting the practice the festival, which holds a number of events nationwide, also raises funds for Newcastle-based charity Farplace Animal Rescue.

The charity is a UK-wide animal rescue group who are specialists with animals affected by diseases affecting the immune system such as FIV+ in cats.

Speaking of the ethos behind the festival fellow organiser Kerri Turner said that the practice of veganism had become more common as more people became interested in animal welfare.

The 39-year old said: “It has definitely grown massively since more people are becoming aware of the truth about what happens to animals.

“There are people that are vegan for health reasons but for me it is for the animals’ lives. Everybody should look at the truth about what happens to animals.”

During the day-long event there were numerous demonstrations and talks including a lecture by Oxford Action Group member Zachary Coleman who discussed vegan activism.

League Against Cruel Sports member Nick Weston also gave a talk about their campaigning work.

As well the array of food stalls and vegan-made crafts there was also a number of charity stalls providing information and awareness about their work, including Animal Equality and marine conservation charity Sea Shepherd UK.

There was also a number of talks held discussing healthy eating options as well as tips and live demonstrations on making healthy vegan meals.