The 15th annual Charlottesville Vegetarian Festival (CVF) will be held -- RAIN OR SHINE -- on Saturday, September 24, 2011 from 11 a.m to 4 p.m. in Lee Park, located in the heart of historic downtown Charlottesville, Virginia.

The CVF is a FREE outdoor celebration of a healthy and humane lifestyle that brings together diverse individuals and organizations who want to make the planet a more healthy, sustainable, and compassionate place for all to inhabit and enjoy. One of the longest running vegetarian festivals in the United States, this one day event typically draws about 6,000 visitors.

The CVF features a wide variety of vegetarian food, including free vegan food samples from natural-foods companies. In addition to restaurants and food and drink vendors, the approximately 100 exhibitors/vendors hosted by the festival also include compassionate-living advocates, nonprofit and educational organizations, and animal rescue organizations conducting an Adoption Fair for dogs and cats.

Festival visitors will also be entertained through the day with LIVE performances by local musicians and performers, a "Kids' Patch" with lots of fun activities for children, and a wide variety of "fun"-raising activities, including a silent auction, that support the projects of Voices for Animals.

The Charlottesville Vegetarian Festival is coordinated by Voices for Animals, an animal-protection organization serving Central Virginia since 1984. The festival is organized entirely by volunteers. Members of the festival organizing committee donate their time and skills to make it all happen!