For a fabulous showcase of the diverse vegan culinary offerings now available, drop into Vienna’s Veganmania festival.
- Plenty of street food options
- Also market stalls for fashion, cosmetics, cooking ingredients, etc.
- Live music and other entertainments, too
- Next dates: August 25-27, 2023
- See also:
- Vegetarian Vienna
- Vienna in June & August
Vegan food and market
(View from the subway station)
Although Austria as a whole slipped somewhat uneasily into vegetarian and vegan thinking (cough, schnitzel, cough), the country has a strong green undercurrent. As a result, both these lifestyle and dietary choices continue to grow in popularity.
With a title like Veganmania, you can probably guess what to expect from this festival.
We popped into the summer version on the Donauinsel (the long artificial island that splits the Danube in two as it passes through the city) and discovered three festival cornerstones: food, the market & entertainment.
Long rows of booths provided vegan street food and offered a testament to the variety now available. (The organisers actually bill the event as Austria’s largest street food festival.)
An innocent passerby might have seen stalls selling kebabs, burgers, and sausages and thought nothing of it. But all vegan, of course, alongside dishes from around the world and plenty to please those with a sweeter palate, too.
(I enjoyed a spicy vegan Leberkäsesemmel from Die Pflanzerei vegan butchers.)
The market stands featured a range of vegan products mixed in with stalls highlighting the work of various NGOs tackling both vegan and related issues (like animal welfare).
The shopping opportunities covered clothes, shoes, cosmetics, food and nutritional supplements, jewelry, accessories, and more.
And sporadic entertainment on and off the stage included, for example, live music, yoga sessions, and workshops by LUSH.
We went around lunchtime on a Sunday and the place was packed, with queues at almost all the food stalls. Given the nature of the event, though, the atmosphere was relaxed, friendly, and youthful (from my mid-50s perspective!).
All-in-all, then, the perfect place to tuck into something that doesn’t come with guilt and animal suffering, and browse a variety of vegan shopping opportunities in one place without needing to click on a screen.
Dates, tickets & tips
In 2023, Veganmania has spring (June 2nd to 4th) and summer (August 25th to 27th) editions. Entry to the festival site is free. Winter also sees an indoor fair from the same organisers: Vegan Planet.
Both spring and summer locations have plenty else to offer visitors…
The smaller spring festival takes place on the open area in front of the MuseumsQuartier, home to modern and contemporary art museums and institutions, not to mention several cafés and restaurants.
The larger summer festival occupies the Leuchtturmwiese (lighthouse meadow), immediately outside the Donauinsel subway station.
The Donauinsel stretches almost the entire breadth of the city and offers numerous recreational opportunities, such as long walks, BBQ spots, beach bathing, areas for naturists, sports facilities (both on and off the water), places to eat and drink, and bridges across to the banks of the Danube proper.
How to get to Veganmania
See here for the MuseumsQuartier. For the Leuchtturmwiese, the U1 subway line takes you to the Donauinsel station and passes through Vienna’s centre: join at Stephansplatz, for example.
Address: depends on the location | Website