Hey all
In case other folk dont know, I just discovered that Boots sell a range of Vegan sandwiches! Well, the one in the centre of Manchester does anyway - the brand is 'Fresh! Gourmet Organics' (a green packet - marked 'vegan') and there were two choices - carrot, watercress and alfalfa sprouts w/ houmous, or houmous & roasted vegetables. Im eating the carrot one as i type and its lovely. So far ive found it impossible to buy premade/packet sandwiches that didnt have meat&dairy - well, besides the one at Pret a Manger. I know i should make my own at home to bring into work (and save money) but hey. Anyway, i shall shut up now. I shouldnt type with my mouth full.

I had a look in the Boots in Newcastle, and only saw vegetarian sandwichs in green packets. Vegan were nowhere to be seen! :(

It'll be great!!! Cameras would be a great idea, so we can post pics up on the VB photo section.

As for boots, I wa sin a smallish boots today, and they had no sandwiches. just healthcare products. but the one in blkackpool spans 3 floors, so I'll give that one a go sometime this week. I hope they have them, because vegetarian sandwiches are usually sh*te. You either get something cheese-based or egg mayo. Neither of which i like. The carrot one sounds wonderful.

Looking forward too. Camera primed and at the ready.

Seen "Fresh" sandwiches too, had roasted veggie one the other day - was nice, although not biggest fan of courgettes. Will have to look out for the other one, and Boots.

I'll be coming down to Manchester with Syntax (hi Syntax!), so that's me confirmed.

What station are we going to meet at (if that's where we're going to meet). Piccadily? Are we gonna have like a placard so those of us that are hopeless can still find everyone? :)

I kind of know Manchester since I lived not far away for about 10 years, but only the shopping areas really. Erm... okay, only the Arndale centre and Marks and Spencers. We so have to visit Starbucks. Living in a small town means I'm usually deprived so I have to take any chance I can, especially since there isn't one in the airport anymore :( Their humous sandwich is yummy.

I've tried the Boots humous sandwich too - it was actually quite crunchy and nice.

I'm looking forward to going!

picadilly station would be fine by me. It's the main station in manchester anyway, so that'd be ideal. It's like a bloody airport in there! What with it being so big & everything. They've got a HMV, a sainsburys & more in there!

But I'd pretty much be sorted for that. The problem is waking up. Waking up is not something which I enjoy doing.

picadilly station would be fine by me.

What time are you expecting to arrive at? Plus we should arrange a place to meet at - last time I was there, the station was under renovation, so some local want to suggest an easily findable point? There's mugshots of enough of us around that once we're in the vicintiy, we should be able to recognise one another.

Anyone going to be arriving at Victoria station, BTW?

The problem is waking up. Waking up is not something which I enjoy doing.

I can relate... I intend to solve this one by not going to sleep :)

We'll probably have to organise a meeting point & times, & the swapping of mobile numbers may be a good idea in case the trains are late like they usually are.

So really, what it all boils down to is what time do we need to meet each other at the station at? once we all know, it'll be easier to sort out when we need to set off. It'd be ideal to exchange mobile numbers in case trains are delayed/cancelled.

And we'll need to sort out where we meet in the station. It looks at the moment as though there are two groups: one for manchester victoria road and one for manchester piccadilly. (Piccadilly will probably be the one I go to.)

Oh, and we'll need to sort out what we're doing on the day. We'll be going to the vegan festival, but i think that either myself or someone else suggested going to a nice veg restaurant afterwards. That would probably be a good idea.

As for cameras, the digicam isn't mine, so I probably won't be bringing it (I have a knack of losing things.) I'll see if i can get hold of a regular camera. If not, then I guess i'll just have to rely on other people's cameras!!!

It's gonna be great meeting everyone. i should be there! 95% sure!!!

hi i know i dont post much but i would love to be apart of the meet up could you give times dates et.c. if its okay for another one to tag along that is i would be traveling from plymouth :sign:

Hi Lollypop. It would be great if you could come along! Not sure how organised we are just yet...

I think we've just about got the initial thingies sorted. We've got amonth to go yet, but we need to get it organised. So, what we need really is:

A list of all people attending
Where we all meet up (Taking into account that some of us may be in victoria station, and others in piccadilly)
Where exactly we meet up (An exact place for us to meet up in the station.)
When we all meet up.
Who will be waiting for everyone else and where.
How we get from the station to the venue
What we're doing afterwards (If we're going to a veg restaurant, and which one. Do bear in mind that since it is a vegan festival, the veg restaurants may be packed.)
Anything else we can do in the day.

That's basically what we need to sort out. http://www.veganfestivals.org.uk is the website with all the info. The festival starts at 10:30am, so we'll need to bear this in mind when we meet up. (Possibly at 10am or earlier)

According to a map found on that website, Manchester Victoria appears to be the nearest station. No idea how far Piccadilly is. (Help anyone?)

UPDATE: Using my internet browing skills, i've found a meagre-looking map, as i was checking out some veg places in manchester. From this map, and the one provided by the other website, I've deduced that the venue is sandwiched between Piccadilly and victoria stations, so it's good for people coming from both places! http://www.eighth-day.co.uk/location.htm

Heehee, I'm showing some organisational skills here. perhaps I should put this on my CV! :p

According to a map found on that website, Manchester Victoria appears to be the nearest station. No idea how far Piccadilly is. (Help anyone?)

Although it's roughly equal distance wise (actually, I think it's a little closer to picadilly), it's much simpler to get to Tib Street from Picadilly. There's a long convayer of people heading into the shoping area (of which Tib Street it one edge) from Picadilly. Whereas, to get to Tib Street from Victoria, you cross the 'industrial' area, and that's easier to get a little lost in. Plus, you'll end up at the ... 'interesting' ... end of Tib Street first, which might give you the wrong idea (it's a long street - the ends are practically polar opposites). Or you go with the pedestrian routes, and take a circular route to get there.

That said, it's about 10 minutes walk from Picadilly, and 15 from Victoria (Well, the way I walk, anyway).


Stupid question time: Lunch? It's gonna be possible to get lunch at the festival, right? Cos the nearest vegetarian place I know is next to Manchester Uni Library...

The 8th day cafe/ restaurant is a great place (walking away from town towards the universities). Much much closer is the Earth Cafe http://www.earthcafe.co.uk/ however its quite quiet, and may not be ideal for all of us to talk & laugh loudly! Theres also Zumbar (opposite the BBC on Oxford road,) it does vegan & meat dishes. And of course China Town is right in the heart of the city too. If some people want to stay on a bit later for a drink or three, a good venue at night is the Fab cafe http://www.fabcafe.co.uk/ (Portland street, in town). Good music, free entry, open late, sci-fi/kitch interior.

Veggcore, where are you?????

The 8th day and earth café are the ones that I've been interested in. really, I'm more or less after good food at a low price, if there ever was such a thing!

Incidentally, is there any good falafel available in manchester?

gosh, i'm a bit jealous of you all. i'm a wiganer and i love Manc :smitten: but i won't be able to make it to this festival :(

i discovered a veggie fast-food place last time i was in the city. in the arndale centre food court. they had quite a good range of stuff if i remember rightly, and the guy behind the counter seemed to know what was vegan. this could have been there AGES actually, but i only noticed it this last christmas.

Loki - I think ive only ever eaten 'ready made' falafel at a restaurant off Albert sq called the Armenian Taverna. I usually buy falafel mix you make at home. But i will happily do some research!
Agouti - I know the one you mean, i think its called V2Go or something? i think its been there for maybe a year?? Ive only been there twice, but its definately a bright light in the hellhole that is the arndale centre. hehehe. Sorry you cant make it to the vegan festival!

I went to v2go in the trafford centre. I had some falafel from there and it was great. My friends all went to get KFC. I had finished my falafel, and they were still queing. I really rubbed it in their faces.

I'm quite sure that I'll be able to make it, but some circumstances mean that I may need a good few alarm clocks, some caffeine and a bit of resilience. (i may be very busy the previous week!)

BTW, where do you get falafel mix from? i've only ever seen two options for falafel: Cauldron foods falafel, which is substandard, if you ask me, and marks & spencer falafel, which is rare as rocking horse sh*t, but it tastes like God has momentarily yanked you into his abode. Both are ready made. rest assured, that if there's falafel at the vegan festival, someone will be nicking it!

natalie - my thoughts exactly on v2go being a light in the darkness :)
Loki - the arndale centre branch didn't have much of a queue either - the KFCs and Burger Kings were packed with people, while the servers at v2go were leaning on the counter waiting for customers. hope they can survive :worried:

I didn't know they had one in the arndale centre! Sweet!

We still need to get this thing organised. veggcore hasn't been online in a while. Hopefully, she'll show up!

Anyway, in all likeliness, I'll most likely be arriving at piccadilly. I'm not sure about anyone else.

providing i can get a day of at work :sweat: - i am IN :junk:

Well, we need to start thinking about what we're doing. We've got just less than four weeks to get this party on the road!!!

Hopefully, someone will be at piccadilly (Who knows where the festival is) to meet people, and someone will be at victoria station to greet people. I think what we need to do is make two lists. We may have to make other arrangements for people who are getting there some other way, and we'll have to find a way for the two groups of people to meet up somewhere. (Preferably at the event.)

Anyway, I'll throw myself in, and here we go:

People arriving at Piccadilly Station
Greeting: Natalie
Loki
Purplegrrl
Black heart
Syntax

People making other arrangements
1vegan coming via coach

I'll keep updating the list once people start saying. I'll just keep editing this post. I'll update it based upon any future posts made, (So we can confirm things.) rather than on previous posts. We've still got other things to arrange, like what times we meet at and such, and whether one of out Manchester VB reps (Natalie & veggcore, possibly???) will be meeting @ the station. (I think Syntax said that he'd be arriving at Victoria Road and that he knows manchester quite well, so he might be a good vic rd greeting guy.)

i think we might be able to walk from the station to tibs street. If the weather's good, and if no one has any injuries or disabilities. (I'm always up for walking!)

Anyway, make a post if you're going, and say which station you'll be arriving at, or whether you're getting there another way. We'll have to figure out a meeting place within the station. (Piccadilly is a huge place.) Hey!!! We could have a James Bondish code for greeting, ie:

Person 1: Do you have a match?
Person 2: I use a lighter.
Person 1: Better!
Person 2: until they go wrong!!!

Ok, maybe that's taking it too far. But we need to establish a meeting place within the station. (ie outside a certain shop, or next to the info point!) Oh yeah, and we'll need to know who's greeting who within the station! (Someone who can direct everyone else to tib street.)

not sure which station- but it may be handy to have mobile numbers :surprised unless thats too dangerous? :worried:

also i dont mean to sound like a fuddy duddy but if there are teens who are only 16 or so should maybe let people know, just cos its safer :hi:

I can't go now cos I will be in New York! I should have been there now, and back home in time for the festival but the trip was postponed.

Sorry guys but I hope you have a fab time. I will find out if my brother will be going and post if he is, though he is not veggie yet you can all work on him! But don't tell him I said so!!

You will be easy to recognise Loki cos we have all seen your mugshot! But it will be useful for people to know how many they are expecting (and on which train) so you can wait for eachother and make sure everyone has arrived before leaving the station. Unless one mobile tel number can be given out for everyone to contact in case of any last minute changes. Can people be sent a private message via this board? That would be the safest way to give out a number to those who plan to come along.

(I will definitely be up for the summer festival in London though if people are meeting up there.)

Just reading back on the recent talk of vegan sandwiches.

The 'Fresh!' ones mentioned in Boots are not made by Boots. 'Fresh!' is the brand, the packaging is bright green and orange. They are very tasty and say whether they are vegan on the packaging (they specialise in organic food including meat and fish I'm afraid). They also do salads. You can get them in some Whistlestops (branches in London train stations) and some 'local' or 'metro' supermarkets - I've seen them in Sainsburys in (London) Victoria and Hammersmith branches.

Starbucks have revamped their sandwich range and no longer do the delicious houmous one. They have replaced it with a falafel wrap which I have tried once and was not impressed with - the falafels were soft and soggy. I am planning to email Starbucks to ask for the houmous sandwich back, mmmn all that lovely spinach!

Whistlestops also do other vegan sandwiches too but take care to check the ingredients as some sound vegan from the general filling ingredients until you check the ingredients list.

By the way guys, there will be plenty of vegan food at the festival for lunch as long as they don't run out - eat earlier rather than later is my advice from having attended the London events in the past! This is the first one up north so they probably won't be sure how many people to expect. :hungry: