The Bay Area's largest vegan festival is back in Berkeley this Sunday, September 6, bringing more than 70 food, beverage, wellness, and retail vendors to Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park from noon to 6 p.m. The 6th Annual Bizerkeley Food Fest carries the theme “Healthy People, Healthy Communities” and sets up shop behind Berkeley City Hall for a day of plant-based eating, according to NBC Bay Area.
This year's lineup includes California plant-based vendors like Cena Vegan, El Compa Vegano, Fungi Foods, and Maya's Cookies, with menus spanning a range of plant-based dishes, per SF Funcheap. General admission runs $8.24, but the festival waives the fee entirely for Berkeley residents and Electronic Benefit Transfer cardholders, an accessibility move the outlet notes sits alongside VIP passes that offer early entry and private cooking demonstrations.
From a Parking Lot to Civic Center Park
The festival's growth has been steady since it started small. It was founded in 2021 by local advocate and blogger Erika Hazel, known as “The Bizerkeley Vegan,” as a modest parking-lot gathering at Sports Basement Berkeley before scaling into what's now billed as Northern California's largest vegan food festival, according to KQED. Hoodline covered that debut sellout event, which offered sidewalk food truck access to those without tickets.
The event kept expanding from there. Its fifth annual gathering last September drew a record crowd of more than 5,000 attendees to its former venue at the North Berkeley BART Station, with many vendors reportedly selling out their menus before the day ended, according to FSHN Magazine. This year's move to Civic Center Park suggests organizers are planning for another large turnout.
A Fundraiser Behind the Food
Beyond the vendor booths, the festival supports animal welfare. The 2025 event raised more than $2,000 for California Pit Bull Rescue, according to the festival's own account of its mission.
California Pit Bull Rescue is listed on Adopt-a-Pet, which features adoptable animals and an adoption link, according to Adopt-a-Pet.
Berkeley's Broader Plant-Based Push
The festival's rise tracks with Berkeley's own institutional embrace of plant-based dining. In July 2021, the Berkeley City Council passed a resolution committing the city to cut its municipal purchases of animal-based foods by 50 percent by 2024, aiming to reduce local greenhouse gas emissions, as reported by Berkeleyside. That resolution applies to meals served in city facilities including senior centers, youth programs, and jail facilities.
The policy outlined a goal of reducing the city's purchases of animal-based foods, while a fully plant-based future remained exploratory and aspirational, according to Plant Based News. Hazel has kept building on the festival's momentum locally, too.
