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Brenika Banks video caption: Vegandale New York 2025, Saturday, Sept. 27, displayed a plethora of Black and Brown vegan food businesses. Despite the humid autumn weather, hundreds of attendees showed up ready to eat and have fun. The Vegandale stage provided music and entertainment from 11 a.m. until 8 p.m. (Brenika Banks video)

Despite humidity sticking around during early autumn, Vegandale New York 2025 was a major success. The vegan experience, started in 2015 by Hellenic Vincent De Paul, captivated and brought out thousands in attendance. The festival is described as “the ultimate all-vegan destination, uniting food, music, and art for an unparalleled experience.” Vegandale New York 2025 exuded a vibrant atmosphere and growing appeal among vegans, non-vegans, food, and festival enthusiasts.

This year marks their second in the Citi Field parking lot, convenient for those driving and using public transit. Vegandale returned to its previous festival recipe by including more food vendors and fewer non-food vendors this time around. They maintained their different blocks, set-ups, signs, and other props for attendees to photograph and video. One food vendor, fan favorite, Dominican plant-based restaurant Next Stop Vegan, made its anticipated return. Owned by Bronx-native Blenlly Mena and Dominican-born Javier Saba, the establishment decided to skip Vegandale last September for reasons that didn’t align with what they envisioned for their business.

“We’re back at Vegandale because we love Vegandale — we’ve been supportive of them for a long time,” said Mena. “This year they changed some things around, they notified us that they have changed things back to the old ways,” Mena continued. “Entertainment will be a DJ and fun things people normally come to festivals for.”

Mena expressed her happiness with the vendor lineup for this year and applauded Vegandale for changes that aligned better with her company’s values. Their two lines were long, and the owners shared that they sold out of all their food at the festival.

Trini Bites, another Caribbean vendor, enjoyed their day as well. The Long Island caterer is owned by Renee Davis, a first-generation Trinidadian American and registered nurse. Their hit Veggie Delight Bowl is made with well-seasoned pumpkin, callaloo, curry potato over coconut rice, and topped with pickled purple cabbage.

Coco Bred returned for their second year. The owner of the Brooklyn restaurant is Jaime Randle, a Jamaican-born, New York-raised chef. Her business, now over a year old, has been doing well, especially with Vegandale last year, increasing her brand awareness and visibility. Randle was happy to see a representative from the Amsterdam News again and was excited for Coco Bred’s return to the festival.

Vegandale New York 2025’s host and hype man, Scott Burnhard, returned for another year. This festival matches well with his lifestyle as a nutritional and health coach. Burnhard, along with DJ MixNYC and other stage guests, did well with keeping the crowd’s energy high and everyone dancing. When asked what his favorite part of the day was, Burnhard responded, “seeing everybody have fun — when I see everybody have fun, it makes me want to have fun as well.” He efficiently kept the crowd entertained with interactive tactics such as leaping into and dancing with the crowd. “Seeing the smiles on people’s faces, engaging, jumping into the crowd — that’s my favorite part, simple,” said Burnhard.

DJ MixNYC kept the audience hyped via reggae, reggaeton, Soca, and dance tunes, including staple songs from Black gatherings like the “Cupid Shuffle” and the “Cha Cha Slide.” The crowd was moving and grooving nonstop as the entertainment satisfied them. Many attendees enjoyed the energizing atmosphere and were impressed with the quality as well as diversity in food options.

However, the festival can be planned better when it comes to organizing its entrances and providing more supplies for its hand-washing stations. Vegandale believes in a pinnacle experience “where interactive art, hundreds of vendors, and thousands of people come together to realize a world without animal exploitation.” Vegandale New York returns in September 2026.

For more information, visit vegandalefest.com.

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