Nourished Festival Recap
My checked bag was full of awesome goodies from the festival.
As some of you may know I traveled to Secaucus, NJ the weekend of October 4th to attend Nourished Festival as part of their official press team. This was and still is an opportunity I am excited about and have taken two weeks to reflect on my first gluten free festival experience. I know it may seem simple to attend something like this, but for me it was more than a Gluten Free, Allergy, and Specialty Diet Festival.
To give you a little recap about what this festival is -- Nourished Festival is 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. The festival gives attendees to interact with over 100 brands/vendors, sample and purchase new products, meet brand ambassadors, receive coupons, and attend educational classes. The Festival has five zones to visit: Gluten-Free, Nut-Free, Paleo, Keto & Plant-Based. All products in all zones are gluten free.
Like said above for me Nourished Festival was more than a Gluten Free, Allergy, and Specialty Diet Festival. It was a place to find community. It was a place to feel not judged. It was a place where I could safely try products. It was a place where I felt comfortable in my own skin. It was a place that allowed me to meet some new friends. It was a place that allowed me to learn and connect.
Celiac disease is also known as the invisible disease as you can’t always see the havoc it is causing on the inside of the person suffering even when that person is still showing up to work and social events with a smile on their face. Having an “invisible” disease can make explaining what you are living with difficult, draining, and disheartening as I know I feel judged and misunderstood a lot of the time. I promise I am not trying to be picky when it comes to food or say not to plans, I may have committed to because my body has other plans (#ThatSoCeliac). However, at Nourished Festival I did not feel any of the above emotions, which was absolutely amazing. I was able to enjoy being at a festival with a community that understood and wanted to connect, as well as, help instead of judge!
Speaking of community, the official press team was made up of some of the most amazing people. Some of the those within the community I have followed on Instagram since I was diagnosed. Some I had started to make connections with over Instagram prior to the festival. Some were brand new faces. Every single person was so kind, wanted to connect, and wanted to help each other out in any way possible! It is exciting and comforting to know that I have a celiac community that I can turn to if I ever need anything. I also know that my girls, Dina (@noglutenformesir) & Nusreen (@grabembythegluten) are foodies like me and are down to explore some amazing food spots. A different post on this coming up soon because the two places we went were a celiac foodie’s dream and deserve their own write up!
The expo introduced me to these two, whom have become great friends!
Like I said it was way more than a Gluten Free, Allergy, and Specialty Diet Festival
A big draw for attendees is that the festival is set up for those who attend to interact with different companies and try their products. If you remember, I was excited to connect with Against the Grain Gourmet, Bakery On Main, Banza, Brazi Bites, Enjoy Life, gomacro, munk pack, NIMA, and Schar. I had the opportunity to speak with every single one of these companies besides gomarco as they were not in attendance. There were some awesome companies that I got the chance to not learn about and connect with like Aleia’s, BareLife, Bee Delightful Honey, Erin Mandras who wrote Austin’s Allergies, GeeFree, Izzy’s Bakery, Kicking Horse Coffee, Lebby Snacks, O’My, and Undercover Quinoa. I will be doing another write up on some of my favorite findings as I do not want to turn this post into a novel because I easily could due to not only my excitement about these companies, their why’s, but also because they have really good products.
If you can’t tell I had a fantastic experience at my first Nourished Festival and as part of their official press team! I highly encourage anyone interested in attending this festival to do so. Jen Cafferty whom is the Founder and CEO of The Nourished Group has put so much thought and effort to not only the entire Nourished Festival, but each location that the festival is held. Jen and her team work tirelessly to make sure that every single attendee and vendor has a great experience. Not only is it a great festival to connect with companies you use or want to use, but it is a great way to understand the why’s behind the company and truly understanding the company you are supporting when you purchase their products. Being curious and doing research has always been something I am good at but is now something I must do to make sure I understand what I am putting in and on my body. I am thankful for people like Jen who started Gluten Free and Allergy Free (GFAF) Expo, which has rebranded into what we now call Nourished Festival as it is a place where those who follow gluten free, allergy free, and specialty diets can enjoy with confidence and leave with not only many samples, but new knowledge and a happy heart.
If you have read this entire blog post, thank you! I have written many different versions of this as I have been trying to organize my thoughts that last two weeks and debating on how to share my experience. I hope the excitement and happiness is coming through your computer screen or phone screen. Keep an eye out for upcoming blog posts about specific companies that I got the chance to connect with, learn more about, and look forward to supporting post Nourished Festival!