Location: Outdoor Activities Area

Empowered Percussion invites you to step into the heartbeat of the festival with an immersive drum circle experience. Hosted and facilitated by Aaron Tafoya, a passionate percussionist and community connector, this session blends high-energy rhythms with interactive activities that awaken creativity, movement, and joy. 

Drawing from years of experience in cajon drum innovation, performance, and group facilitation, Aaron creates an inclusive space where all skill levels can join in and feel the music come alive. Through guided rhythms, call-and-response patterns, and spontaneous improvisation, participants explore percussion as a tool for unity and self-expression. The experience also weaves in sound-based mindfulness, collaborative rhythm games, and opportunities to co-create unique beats together in the moment. 

Whether seasoned or brand new to drumming, participants leave feeling energized, connected, and inspired.

Link to their website, Instagram, Facebook

This year, we’re thrilled to add a new aspect to the festival by partnering with Memorial Blood Centers to host a Blood Drive

Register here to donate blood - https://www.mbcherohub.club/donor/schedules/drive_schedule/75596

Location: American Vegetarian Association Speaker and Cooking Demo Tent

Come hear the latest thoughts of wellness visionary and founder of The Zen Bin and Heal Mpls, Sierra Carter - Holistic Entrepreneur, Community Healer, and Cultural Architect!

Sierra Carter is a visionary entrepreneur, speaker, and healer rooted in the transformative power of community, culture, and wellness. As the founder of HEAL MPLS, The Zen Bin, and Casa Ecuador, Sierra has built soul-nourishing spaces that center holistic health, plant-based nutrition, and ancestral wisdom.

Her work bridges the gap between inner healing and outer action—using food, herbal medicine, music, and community gatherings to activate deep restoration, especially for Black and Brown communities. With a background in both corporate leadership and grassroots organizing, Sierra weaves lived experience, spiritual insight, and business acumen into every conversation.

She also serves as the Social Impact Leader for Rhymesayers Entertainment, where she builds bridges between hip hop, healing, and community empowerment through innovative initiatives and storytelling platforms.

Her message is clear: you can heal yourself, build your dream, and honor where you come from while doing it.

Location: Compassionate Action for Animals Music and Activities Stage

Karen Cabrera Barba is an experienced Zumba teacher, leading classes around the Twin Cities. She describes her approach here: “Coming from a Latino culture, I’d say I have a very energetic and fun approach to teaching! I think there is nothing better in the world than for exercise to be fun and enjoyable to the point it doesn’t even feel like you are really exercising! It brings me so much joy to see the positive, welcoming, and super fun environment that we create as a team. As a natural extrovert and leader, one of the best decisions I have made was to finally share with others my years of experience in fitness and dance by becoming a group fitness instructor.

Link to Karen's Instagram

Location: American Vegetarian Association Speaker and Cooking Demo Tent

Demo dish: Curried Chickpea Salad - Come to the the demo for a recipe and sample!

Beth Dooley, James Beard Award winning food writer is a columnist for the Taste section of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Star Tribune, and appears regularly on KARE 11 (NBC) television and MPR Appetites with Tom Crann. She co-authored The Sioux Chef's Indigenous Kitchen with Sean Sherman, winner of the James Beard Award for Best American Cookbook, 2018.  Corn Dance: Inspired First American Cuisine with Chef and Emmy Award winner, Loretta Oden, is her most recent book. Other titles include:  Savoring the Seasons of the Northern Heartland with Lucia Watson, James Beard Award finalist. More recent titles include, Appetite for Change: Soulful Recipes from a North Minneapolis Kitchen, and Chile Clove and Cardamom: A Gastronomic Journey into the Fragrances and Flavors of Desert Cuisines, co-authored with Gary Paul Nabhan and ). The Perennial Kitchen: Simple Recipes for a Healthy Future (a finalist for the IACP Award). Current projects include a forthcoming book with the Team Tortilla Crew, working title, NIXTA: The Art of Corn: Recipes, Stories, and Art Celebrating America’s Defining Crop Beth serves as Endowed Chair, Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture (MISA). 

Link to Beth’s website, Instagram, Facebook

Margaret Telfer has been whole food plant based for over 15 years. She studied nutrition with Dr Esselstyn and is an NBHWC certified Wellness Coach and Rouxbe trained plant-based chef. She teaches plant based cooking classes and provides coaching and cooking lessons for people who need to change their diet for health reasons. She was a founding board member of the Physicians Association for Nutrition with Dr Michael Greger and tested recipes for his latest cookbook.

Location: Compassionate Action for Animals Music and Activities Stage

Join us for the Let’s Beat Breast Cancer Rally this year at Twin Cities Veg Fest. We invite everyone to come support this kickoff to October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Check out all the details on the event page.

Location: Under the big cottonwood tree

Bring your all your friends, your sack and a good attitude for some hacky sack fun against gravity!

Location: American Vegetarian Association Speaker and Cooking Demo Tent

Join us to hear Austin Frerick, author of Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America’s Food Industry, speak.

Austin Frerick is an expert on agricultural and antitrust policy. In 2024, he published his debut book, entitled Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America’s Food Industry. The book, which includes a forward by Eric Schlosser, profiles a series of powerful magnates to illustrate the concentration of power in the global food system. Barons has received universal acclaim, including a coveted starred review from both Publishers Weekly and Kirkus Reviews, and has been named one of the “Best Books of 2024” by the latter. The host of Bloomberg's Odd Lots applauded the book, remarking, "I have come away with a completely different idea of agriculture that I cannot unsee." The Times Literary Supplement (UK) noted that it is “steeped in policy and enlivened by anecdote” and the Los Angeles Review of Books said that the “prose is refreshingly accessible and nonacademic.” The book has also received praise from across the political spectrum, including a rave review from The American Conservative. It has been excerpted in The Independent (UK), Salon, and The New Republic, among others. Link to his website and X (Twitter)

Location: Outdoor Activities Area

Link to her website

Location: American Vegetarian Association Speaker and Cooking Demo Tent

Demo dish: Pulled Pork Tacos with Banana BBQ Sauce. Come to the demo to get a recipe and a sample!

Food on the Fly is a new, fast-casual restaurant in Downtown Minneapolis with a scratch kitchen built for speed and creativity. They use fine-dining techniques to craft high-quality, plant-based versions of classic meat dishes—focusing on innovative seitan textures and fully vegan sauces, sides, and garnishes. While not fully vegan, nearly everything on the menu has a vegan counterpart. Catch them for lunch on weekdays or order via DoorDash, Uber Eats, or catering. Their plant-based meats are also featured at Stray Dog in NE Minneapolis.

Location: Compassionate Action for Animals Music and Activities Stage

The Walker Brothers Band will be taking the stage for a rocking hour of Latin-American jams!

Joseph & Jay Walker, Colombian/American brothers based out of the Twin Cities, create original music that blends English, Spanish, and Portuguese lyrics. Their performances feature both their own expressive compositions and timeless classics, highlighting their diverse musical talents and growing their audiences.

Link to their website, Instagram, Facebook

Location: American Vegetarian Association Speaker and Cooking Demo Tent

The votes are in! After a month of incredible competition, it's time to crown the champion of the Twin Cities Vegan Chef Challenge. Join us for the official awards ceremony. We'll celebrate the chefs, reveal the winning dishes, and announce which fan favorites are staying on the menu permanently! Don't miss this exciting finale to a delicious month.

For more details on the challenge, visit caa.mn/tcvcc.