Amy Luebbert helped organize VeganFest in hopes that an all-vegan restaurant will open in Des Moines.(Photo: Molly Longman/The Register)Buy Photo

While thousands of Iowans swarmed downtown to eat bacon-covered sugar cookiesat the Blue Ribbon Bacon Festivalon Saturday, over 600 Iowans gathered at the First Unitarian Church of Des Moines for a different kind of fest.

VeganFest 2017 was underway, taking a less carnivorous approach to foodie festivities.

Food Still Matters, a Des Moines-basedvegan potluckand discussion series, hosted the festivalto counter the "other fest" across town and to raise awareness about the hungry and under-noticed vegan community in Des Moines, organizer Amy Luebbert said.

"It's important that people know vegans are here in Des Moines," Luebbert said. "We wanted to shownot only the folks wholive in Des Moinesthat vegans are here, but also restaurants that we are a group of people that wants to eat their food."

Luebbert saidone of her goals for the festival was to prove there's a market for a vegan restaurant in Des Moines. When the East Village restaurantNew World Cafe shut down in 2015, the vegan community in Des Moines was left without a strictly vegan place to dine. Luebbert said she'd like to see that change and she thinks VeganFest's turnout is a step in the right direction.

Hundreds gathered for VeganFest 2017.(Photo: Gene McCracken/Special to The Register)

Luebbert saidmost Food Still Matters sessions have attracted about 30 to 50 people, so she was pleasantly surprised when VeganFest ran out of the 660 tickets and programs that were printed.

Those who attended the event had free access to massages from Peterson Health Services, information sessions about going vegan and sample treatsfrom shops such asTacopocalypse East, Trader Joe's,Gusto Pizza Co., and up-and-comingrestaurant, Dirt Burger. There were even Girl Scouts selling vegan Thin Mints.

More than 600 people gathered at VeganFest 2017 in Des Moines.(Photo: Molly Longman/The Register.)

Luebbert encouraged people at the event to try out a vegan lifestyle.

"I'm vegan for ethical reasons, andI've been vegan 16 years," Luebbert said. "Once I learned there was more I could do to help the animals, I was hooked. So, I did a bunch of research in a day and became vegan the next day. ... I feel more connected to myself and more honest."

Even the recycling system at VeganFest was environmentally conscious.(Photo: Molly Longman/The Register)

David Bottino, who has been vegan for two years, came to VeganFestnotonlyfor the foodbutfor the information sessions, which included topics such as vegan parenting and the environmental benefits of going vegan. He also said he came to feela sense of community, instead of fretting about the Bacon Festival raging across town.

"I always feel that when something terrible in the world and in life happens, something good will come along to balance it out,' Bottino said,referring to the juxtaposing bacon and veganfestivals. "Since I've gone vegan, I've dropped 45 pounds super fast and my asthma improved. It was just a lot easier to get out of bed. ... This is my lifestyle, so I'm glad it's getting some attention."

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VeganFest 2017 draws hundreds, counters bacon fest - DesMoinesRegister.com