Nourished Festival – Secaucus, NJ
When I stumbled across Nourished Festival, I instantly got excited. I know weird, this girl gets excited over a Gluten Free, Allergy, and Specialty Diet Festival, but when you have an autoimmune disease that makes Oktoberfest Fest / Italian Fest / whatever other festival that deals with food that you can no longer enjoy (read Gluten, Cross-Contamination, Blank Stares, Oh My to understand the amount of anxiety that goes into this) then yes you get very excited over a festival where you are more than likely able to eat every single product that is being offered (#ThatsSoCeliac).
So why am I so excited to attend this festival? I really wish I could have a “Whole New World” playing as you read this blog post because that is the song that is going to be going through my head as I walk into this festival. The Nourished Festivals are the largest and fastest growing special diet consumer events in the US. Started in 2007, the events are professionally managed and have expanded from one to eight cities throughout the United States. In addition to meeting the needs of the Celiac community, the Expo welcomes those with gluten sensitivities, auto-immune/inflammatory diseases and autism.
Nourished Festivals allow attendees to interact with over 100 brands/vendors, sample and purchase new products, meet brand ambassadors, receive coupons, and attend educational classes. The Festivals have five zones to visit: Gluten-Free, Nut-Free, Paleo, Keto & Plant-Based. All products in all zones are gluten free.
I am looking forward to interacting with brands that I genuinely trust and enjoy like Against the Grain Gourmet, Bakery On Main, Banza, Brazi Bites, Enjoy Life, gomacro, munk pack, NIMA, and Schar (just to name a few). As well as, getting the opportunity to learn about new brands that I have not had the chance to research or try yet. I get the feeling I am going to need to check a bag to bring back all kinds of yummy gluten free goodies then share with you all about some of my favorites! I am looking forward to learning and interacting with brands that I am not yet familiar with as well!!
I am also looking forward to meeting some of the amazing humans I have gotten the chance to interact with via That's So Celiac and learn more about them, why they started their page, their celiac / gluten free story, and make some possible new friends!
Like I stated at the beginning of this post, I am traveling to Secaucus, NJ as of right now there is no Nourish Festival location in Florida, which I will be talking to someone about this (I am saying/typing this in the nicest tone...promise). I say that because the area where I live in Florida is a little more progressive in the food industry than other areas and I think having Nourished Festival in this area would not only be fruitful for them, but fruitful for people who live near that want to attend and for local vendors that are making it easier, fun, and safe to those who are gluten free / have a food allergy / follow a specialty diet.
I am going to be sharing a majority of time at the festival via That’s So Celiac’s Instagram stories, so make sure to follow along on October 5th and October 6th for my first Nourished Festival experience as an attendee and as part of their official press team.