VEGGIE PRIDE PARADE, NYC 2017

    VEGGIE PRIDE PARADE, NYC

    Sunday, April 2, 2017

    Taking Place at Union Square

    Visit www.veggieprideparade.org for more information about every aspect of the event.

    Every stand-up comedian in the business knows you can always get an instant laugh: make a vegan the butt of your joke. Every vegan kid knows he or she is not likely to get a good meat-free and dairy-free meal in the school lunchroom and faces ridicule just for asking. All too many vegans who live in remote areas have to buy their food by mail order or travel to other towns just to get something to eat. And ask any vegan about what he or she must go through to convey a simple food order in a non-veg restaurant. It isn’t fun.

    All this even though we know meat is cruel, unhealthy, and catastrophic for the environment. And why are meat, dairy, and fish so heavily subsidized by governments around the world, particularly in the United States and Europe? None of it makes a bit of sense. Nor is it fair or right.

    Enter the 10th annual NYC Veggie Pride Parade, which will take place in Greenwich Village/Union Square, on Sunday, April 2, 2017. For vegetarians, the day’s festivities are sure to give their meatless way of living a much needed boost.

    Parade participants are encouraged to dress up in costumes and wear sign boards announcing their pride in their vegan lifestyle. Local restaurants, veg groups, and veg everything will be represented with banners and chants. The parade will include animal-rights activists, environmentalists, and people simply concerned with their health. But on April 2, 2017, all will come together with one voice, one expression, of veggie pride.

    The procession will begin at 12 Noon, sharp, in the Old Meat Packing District (where 9th Ave. & Gansevoort St. intersect). It will culminate in a festival for all to enjoy at the north end of Union Square Park. There, revelers of all persuasions will hear well-known vegan speakers and music by vegan artists. They’ll all partake in free vegan food and explore a wide variety of exhibitor presentations. At 2 p.m., a costume contest will take place.

    Throughout the day, individuals will be encouraged to speak their mind at the Soapbox Testimonial Station. Other activists will beckon passersby to receive a dollar in return for watching a pro-veg video.

    Organizer Pamela Rice feels confident that this year’s parade will be the best ever. Ms. Rice said, “I’m hoping that at this event people will see vegans and vegetarians come out of the shadows, once and for all.”