Veg Chat Midlands

>>> Please forward to veggies and vegans everywhere! <<<

Picture the scene:

Hundreds of celebrating vegetarians/vegans parade through a busy city centre. A samba band entertains, whilst dozens of revellers dance in colourful costumes, such as super heroes, vegetables and animals! Others have donned their professional uniforms (eg nurses, chefs etc) or leisure/fitness attire (eg footballers, runners etc), demonstrating that those with compassion manifest in many forms. Hundreds carry banners, flags and placards, intent on spreading awareness of their passion for plant based diets. The vibrant carnival atmosphere draws the attention of thousands of shoppers. As crowds look on they soak up the collective enthusiasm for healthy, cruelty-free, eco-friendly living. Some can`t resist the temptation and join the parade! Leaflets leave the masses in no doubt of the benefits that a change of lifestyle would bring.

Where the proud procession comes to an end, a fantastic festival begins. Whilst hundreds of weekend shoppers flow through a central square, dozens of stalls offer a wide range of information and products to vegans, veggies and meat eaters alike. There`s a vast variety of cruelty-free hot and cold food to tempt the taste buds of even the most committed carnivores, including free samples for the curious who may wish to try before they buy! In all corners of the square, entertainment comes from talented performers of all kinds - jugglers, dancers, singers, magicians, poets, story tellers etc. Crowds flock round a stage to enjoy speeches from respected members of the veggie/vegan community and the best, most original costumes, props and banners win awards. The party continues into the early evening as bands take over the stage and round off a day of vegetarian/vegan celebration and awareness that will never be forgotten!

Where could this be? Paris or New York perhaps? No, this is Birmingham - the venue for the first Veggie Pride UK on Sat 16th May 2009!!

PLEASE NOTE: - Full details of this event are yet to be confirmed/approved by Birmingham City Council, but will be announced as soon as possible.

For several years, Veggie Pride events have been held in Paris, and last year, also in Rome and New York. As yet, no event of this kind has ever been seen in the UK. Midlands Vegan Campaigns are committed to staging Veggie Pride UK in Birmingham, where we hope it will become an annual event, celebrated by vegetarians & vegans from across the country and will hopefully grow in size and popularity year after year.

WHY BIRMINGHAM??

Birmingham has played a very important role in the progress of vegetarianism for well over 100 years and continues to do so today. In 1898, the first vegetarian hotel in the UK opened in Birmingham City Centre. It was named The Pitman Vegetarian Hotel after Sir Isaac Pitman, then vice-president of the Vegetarian Society. The manager, James Henry Cook, also opened the UK`s first `health food store` in Birmingham. The idea caught on, and there were soon health food stores in towns and cities across the country!

Today, Birmingham is home to the longest running purely vegan shop in the country and of course, The Vegan Society have now made Birmingham their home.

WHY ARE WE APPEALING FOR HELP??

Plans are in the very early stages. Many of our dreams for this event will only come true with your support! YOU can help make the above description become a reality. At this stage, there are 3 main ways you can help ensure the event is a success:

1. The council want some assurance that Veggie Pride UK will attract a significant number of people. They don`t want to grant approval, only for it to be a flop due to a low turnout! So you can help simply by pledging to attend! Either confirm your attendance via Facebook http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=53925241834 , or pledge to attend via Pledge Bank, see http://www.pledgebank.com/VeggiePrideUK

2. The costs involved with organising such an event are very high. Costs include printing(and other publicity), hire of various essentials (stage, sound equipment, gazebos etc), electricity, insurance and possibly even road closures! We will cut down on costs wherever possible but it`s clear that we can`t go ahead without your financial support!

MVC is a small, grassroots campaign group, run by volunteers. Every penny you donate will be ploughed into organising a memorable, inspiring event. Any amount that you/your group can afford will be very gratefully received. Please make cheques/postal orders payable to `Midlands Vegan Campaigns` and post to:

MVC, PO Box 10202, Redditch, Worcs. B98 8YT.

We would also like to hear from potential sponsors. All sponsors will be promoted on our website, MySpace, Facebook, leaflets, posters, adverts etc. If you would like to sponsor Veggie Pride UK, or would like more details, please get in touch as soon as possible.

3. Obviously, keep the date free! Start to think about providing transport from your area, and consider what costumes, banners and props that you & your friends/group can wear/display on the procession. If you can offer ANYTHING, whether your advice, time, talent or resources, we would be delighted to hear from you, please get in touch.

VEGGIE PRIDE WEBSITES

The Veggie Pride UK website is here www.veggiepride.org.uk It`s still being built (remember we`re volunteers!) so is a bit dull at the moment! Do check back soon for updates.

Read about previous Veggie Pride events in Paris http://www.veggiepride.org/en/index.php and New York http://www.veggieprideparade.org/

ABOUT MIDLANDS VEGAN CAMPAIGNS

Midlands Vegan Campaigns formed in August 2007, with the intention of promoting plant based diets for the benefit of animals, people & the planet. We have staged several large events including Free Vegan Food Fairs in Birmingham and Lichfield, and a Vegan Festival in Wolverhampton for World Vegan Day 2008, which attracted 1,200 people. We have recently been nominated for a Vegan Environmental Award for our awareness raising work. We are affiliated to The Vegetarian Society and are local group contacts for both Viva! and The Vegan Society. For further details about the group, please see our main website http://www.veganmidlands.org.uk

Remember, with your help, we will make the first Veggie Pride UK an event to remember!

Thanks in advance for your support.

Best wishes,
MVC

We have written to the organizers of this event to explain why it should not be called a Veggie Pride.
That was more than ten days ago. Can we still expect an answer?
David Olivier, for the organizers of the French and Italian Veggie Pride demonstrations

Having had no response from the Birmingham organizers, we are making the issue public.

Since there is generally little activity on this forum, we will discuss the matter more fully on the forum http://www.veggieboards.com/

Below is a copy of the mail sent on April 10 to the Birmingham event's organizers, in response to a mail from them in which they asked to be included on the www.veggiepride.org page.

It should be clear that all we are asking is that the organizers of the Birmingham event change the name of their parade, in order to respect the fact that the name “Veggie Pride” was coined for a specific kind of demonstration, and considering that their event is something completely different.

David

Dear Verity,

Thank you for your email. I'm sorry it took us a few days to put this answer together.

Unfortunately, I must tell you that we cannot consider the event you are planning, in the way you are planning it, as a Veggie Pride, and that we object to its being called such.

The basic conditions that define a Veggie Pride demonstration are in the short text that Agnese Pignataro already pointed out to you in her June and July messages and that can be found on the Veggie Pride international page, at:

http://www.veggiepride.org/en/definition.html

We would like to explain a bit more our position because it is important for us that you understand it.

The Veggie Pride demonstration was invented in 2001, in Paris. Before that date, the name “Veggie Pride” simply did not exist; there was no event by that name and there never had been one before. The event we created was based on a specific, original, idea. Thus our request is whoever wants to hold an event that not fit that idea should not call it a Veggie Pride. There are many different possible names in the English language; you could call your event a “Veggie Parade”, or a “Veg Carnival”, or anything else; we only ask you not to call it a Veggie Pride, please!

The basic idea of the Veggie Pride is that it is important, in the face of the immense worldwide suffering and slaughter of animals, for those who refuse to participate in that suffering and slaughtering by eating animals to speak out and publicly display their existence and their refusal. And that it is important for them to do so without blurring and diluting their message with human-oriented claims concerning health, the environment or the third world or anything else.

Why on earth is it impossible for the animals to count enough in their own right for there to be at least one day in the year, just one day, in which people have the courage to publicly denounce their plight by itself, without feeling obliged to add in other motives?

It is clear from your website that the event you are planning is not in line with the definition of a Veggie Pride. On your website, you invite all vegetarians to the event, whatever their motives for not eating animals; the environment, human health and third world issues are placed on a par with the suffering and death of the animals. You also invite non-vegetarians to the demo; the idea being to celebrate the vegetarian “lifestyle”. But the Veggie Pride is not about a “lifestyle”, which is something there is no reason to be either proud or ashamed of; the Veggie Pride is about refusing to eat animals, for the animals' sake.

The Veggie Pride is the first, and to date the only, demonstration where people clearly state that the interests of animals are reason enough to refuse to eat them and to go to the streets to voice their refusal. By using the name “Veggie Pride” for a completely different event, you are, in fact if not in intent, silencing our voices.

In addition to the definition of the Veggie Pride demo:

http://www.veggiepride.org/en/definition.html

please review the FAQ on the Veggie Pride website, and specifically the third section concerning the fundamental choices defining the concept:

http://www.veggiepride.org/en/faq/3.html

Please understand that we do not criticize your planned demonstration. If you do not adhere to the basic Veggie Pride ideas, as they were defined when the concept was invented, you are free to organize a different event. However, to appropriate the name of the concept that we founded and to use it for a completely different event is to effectively silence it. It will make it ever harder for us to have our message heard, which is that the animals count, and that people feel strongly enough about the animals to refuse to go on eating them. We ask you to respect our demonstration and to change the name of yours.

We wish you all the best for the event you are planning — but not as a Veggie Pride!

David, for the organizers of the French and Italian Veggie Pride demonstrations

(Though of course, if instead you change your mind and decide to organize an event that is in line with the definition of the Veggie Pride, you are very welcome to call it a Veggie Pride, and we will be happy to list your event on the international Veggie Pride site.)

I hope this event gos ahead?!
I have signed my pledge to attend.
I will be there!

See declaration here.

David