It took just one day for vegans to stop looking like hippies – this is what the Vegan Summit Budapest was like

“First of all, I apologize for my outfit – the last time I was at an event with a similar theme, it was a vegan meeting with bags,” began the day-opening roundtable discussion by Peti Puskás-Dallos, who was surprised that the Europa Event Center was already filled with elegant, enthusiastic, open-minded people early in the morning, including vegans, vegetarians and omnivores – the proportion of the latter reached 40 percent according to official figures.

The morning discussion was dissecting a topic that seemed to be in complete contradiction with the sold-out event: has the vegan hype ended, and can’t the animal protection movement grow any bigger? Zsófia Rimóczi, Panka Kovács and Peti Puskás-Dallos, as well as the moderator and professional leader of the Vegan Summit, Vida Raul, sought the answer together with the audience.

Although they concluded that the dialogue around the vegan lifestyle is far from over, the vegan community must significantly change its communication and the way it wants to reach the wider public.

This is precisely where the Vegan Summit Budapest wants to set a good example: it is possible to inspire people to change not only by providing shocking and depressing images, but also by creating an inclusive and inspiring environment, and by making small changes that are accessible in everyday life, for a more livable planet.

During the day, the most common misconceptions were dispelled one after another – about our microbiome, about the diet of vegan athletes, the health effects of meat substitutes, or just that every vegan would be an extremist with their microenvironment. Inspiring speakers presented the best side of the vegan lifestyle and community, which resulted in full auditoriums almost all day long.

The speakers included celebrities and experts such as:

• Gergely Litkai, artistic director of the Dumaszínház;
• Dr. Richárd Schwab internist-gastroenterologist;
• Péter Puskás-Dallos singer and presenter;
• Kristóf Steiner and Nimrod Dagan writers, activists, vegan chefs;
• Zsófia Rimóczi content producer;
• Panka Kovács actress;
• Adrienn Szabó dietician;
• Zsolt Anger actor;
• Zombor Berezvai, associate professor at Corvinus University;
• Judit Páli IFBB Bikini Fitness Champion.

The participants also did it for a good cause

The participants also supported a charity fundraiser by visiting the event, as the organizers offered 500 forints per participant to the Pig Protection Foundation – that is, half a million forints were collected to help abused and abandoned piglets.

A ceremonial award ceremony presented the best ones

The results of the jury and public voting that had lasted for several weeks were also revealed during the day, which the organizers announced in 7 categories, 4 of which were civil and 3 were corporate.

Here are the winners:

Vegan Professional of the Year: Gábor Tóth

Vegan Professional of the Year – People’s Choice Award: Anna Gergely

Vegan Athlete of the Year: Szabolcs Beda

Vegan Athlete of the Year – People’s Choice Award: Kinga Aranyos-Gergely

Vegan Gastronomer of the Year: Ádám Horváth

Vegan Gastronomer of the Year – People’s Choice Award: Zsófia Csontos-Baranyi

Vegan Ambassador of the Year: Steiner Kristóf

Vegan Ambassador of the Year – Audience Award: Kristóf Steiner

Vegan Gastronomic Experience of the Year: Marumba

Vegan Gastronomic Experience of the Year – Audience Award: RépaRetek vegan brunch

Green Progress of the Year: TESCO Hungary – Fighting Food Waste

Green Progress of the Year – Audience Award: 10 Million Trees Foundation – National Tree Planting Day

Vegan Product of the Year: Sweet Gorilla Zserbótorta

Vegan Product of the Year – Audience Award: Sweet Gorilla Zserbótorta