John Davis
September 6, 2011
Last Saturday Hazel and I went just over the border to Llangollen in North Wales to visit the ‘Vegan Café 4 the Day’ in one of the old halls in the middle of town. The FREE Café tours Wales, setting up for one day in towns where there are no other vegan places to eat.
The leaflet right was being handed out in the streets as we arrived:
The group take the event all over Wales, and have been getting great responses everywhere they go. Llangollen (pronounced Thlangothlen) is a tourist town and it was full of visitors on the first Saturday of September, which made it an ideal venue for the vegan event.
Left: signs in English and Welsh outside the old building. The old hall was packed, with a mixture of vegans glad of somewhere to eat and meet other vegans - and a lot of curious locals and tourists who came in just to try what was on offer. The atmosphere was good too, all very relaxed and friendly, with more of a sense of community than normal cafes where people often don’t talk to those on the next table.
It was all run by volunteers, with funding mostly from donations plus a small grant from the Vegan Society.
This touring café is an idea that other groups around the world could use, especially those away from the bigger cities.
Inside the main entrance - a menu board, partly in Welsh, and the local guide leaflet:
Below: some of the happy eaters with their free food, about 1.00pm - it had been full since opening at 10.00am, with lots of visitors coming and going:
Below: part of the buffet (waiters were also serving the from the menu), the hardworking (and mostly young) volunteer staff in the kitchen, a rack with some free leaflets and books for sale, and a plate of falafel and salad:
