In the latest episode of Plant Based On Fire, Bryan sits down with Jonathan Kruger, one of the key volunteers behind Veggie Fest Chicago. This renowned festival is not just about celebrating vegetarian and vegan lifestyles; it’s about fostering community, spreading awareness on healthy living, and making a positive impact.
With engaging discussions, inspiring interviews, and valuable insights, Plant Based On Fire continues to highlight the stories of those driving the plant-powered revolution.
Insights You'll Gain From This Episode
Growth Through Community: Learn how Veggie Fest expanded from 500 to 50,000 attendees through community engagement and volunteerism.
Balancing Health and Fun: Discover how the festival combines food, entertainment, and education to create a holistic and enjoyable experience.
Nonprofit Success: Understand the financial and operational strategies that keep this massive event free and community-focused.
Youth Involvement: See the importance of integrating young volunteers into leadership roles to ensure the festival’s longevity.
Strategic Planning: Gain insights into the logistical challenges of organizing such a large-scale event and the importance of meticulous planning.
A Community-Driven Initiative
Jonathan Kruger is quick to emphasize that Veggie Fest Chicago is a collective effort.
“I’m just one of the many, many, actually a thousand volunteers that put on Veggie Fest Chicago,”
he says. This festival, sponsored by the Science of Spirituality, began humbly in 2005 with 500 attendees. Today, it draws upwards of 50,000 visitors over two days, making it one of the largest vegetarian food festivals in North America.
Building a Legacy
The origins of Veggie Fest are rooted in the desire to promote healthy living and spirituality.
“We’ve been holding classes forever on spirituality, meditation, and healthy living,”
Jonathan explains. The festival’s growth was organic, fueled by a growing interest in vegetarianism and veganism. By 2019, the Chicago Tribune named it the best-run festival in the Chicagoland area.
A Balancing Act
While the festival features a wide variety of vegan and vegetarian foods, it also offers educational content and entertainment. Jonathan notes,
“We have three food demonstration tents, each holding 300 people, with leading chefs teaching all day long.”
The festival also includes live music, yoga sessions, a meditation booth, and a children's program, ensuring there is something for everyone.
Operational Excellence
Running a free festival of this magnitude is no small feat. Jonathan highlights the importance of having a dedicated and organized team.
“We have about 150 team leads,”
he says. The festival’s success is also due to its strategic partnerships and sponsorships, which help cover the costs and keep the event free for attendees.
A Vision for the Future
Looking ahead, Jonathan envisions incorporating more young people into leadership roles and potentially expanding the festival if it continues to grow. However, he acknowledges the challenges that come with such growth, emphasizing the need for careful planning and evaluation.
Embracing Technology
Technology plays a crucial role in the festival’s operations and outreach.
“We have a huge team of social media people, and they’re all in their 20s,”
Jonathan says. This tech-savvy approach has significantly increased the festival’s online presence and engagement.
Jonathan Kruger’s interview is a testament to the power of community and the impact of grassroots initiatives. Veggie Fest Chicago is more than just a festival; it’s a celebration of healthy living, community, and compassion. As Jonathan aptly puts it,
“We’re trying to woo people. We’re trying to celebrate the vegetarian lifestyle.”
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Episode’s Transcript
Please understand that a transcription service provided the transcript below. It undoubtedly contains errors that invariably take place in voice transcriptions.
Bryan (00:00.888)
Hello everybody. Welcome to Plant Based on Fire where we talk about plant based businesses and their inspiring stories to thrive in our industry. I'm your host Bryan. And the best way you can support our podcast is to subscribe, like, comment on these episodes and let us know what other cool, amazing guests that we should have on our show. Joining us today is Jonathan Krueger and he is the founder of the Veggie Fest Chicago. Welcome to the show, Jonathan.
Jonathan Kruger (00:30.101)
Very good. Thank you, Ryan, for having me here. I'm not the founder of one of many people who work together to put on the festival. I'm just one of the many, many, actually a thousand volunteers that put on VeggieFest Chicago.
Bryan (00:43.822)
That is awesome. So apologies for that, but I love all these volunteers that are coming to help you. So take us back in time a little bit. Like what was the origins of some of this and how has it grown? And then I really want to get into the meat of it, but just tell us some of the backstory about. That's right. It sounds great.
Jonathan Kruger (01:02.151)
We won't get into the meat of it, but we'll go deep into it. So the Veggie Fest Chicago is sponsored by an organization called the Science of Spirituality. It's a science of spirituality international meditation center in the Chicagoland area. And we've been holding classes forever on spirituality, meditation, and healthy living.
So in about 2005, we said, we're doing all these classes. Why don't we put it together and hold a fest? So we decided, OK, we put it together, do a fest. We called it Veggie Fest. And 500 people showed up. And it was a disaster. We didn't know what we were doing. But then the next year, 2 ,500 people showed up. And then the next year, 5 ,000 people showed up.
Bryan (01:43.059)
Right?
Jonathan Kruger (01:51.477)
This is before there were any type of vegetarian food festivals anywhere. I mean, might have been one or two, think maybe Toronto, maybe San Francisco. But we kind of organically just thought about it. But at 10 ,000 people, the fire department shows up and goes, you can't have that many people over and not tell us. The festival almost got shut down like three times because we're just learning along the way as it's growing, growing, growing.
At 15 ,000, I believe the police department showed up and says, you guys just shut down the entire neighborhood. You got to work with us if you're invited that many people. At 40 ,000, a health department shows up and says, you can't invite this many people over for dinner and not tell us. And finally, at 40 or 50 ,000 people, Homeland Security shows up and says, you need to have some security here if you're going to have 50 ,000 people.
Bryan (02:41.911)
wow.
Jonathan Kruger (02:47.093)
And now Veggie Fest is, know, one of you got vegetarian food festivals in almost every state in the country and all over the world. We're probably one of the largest in North America, if not the largest worldwide. We have a thousand volunteers coming in from over 20 countries to put on the festival. We got one hundred and fifty booths, one hundred vendor booths. We have live music from some of the best fans in Chicago. We have food demos, three food demonstration tents.
Bryan (02:55.266)
Mm -hmm.
Jonathan Kruger (03:16.469)
Each tent holds 300 people where we have leading chefs teaching all day long for people to attend. We have a meditation booth, a yoga booth, a huge children's program. But what's amazing is that we have a international food court where we have 27 items this year where we actually prepare, cook and serve all the food ourselves. So we don't bring in food trucks. We don't bring in restaurants. Two weeks before the festival, we set up a food kitchen.
Bryan (03:40.206)
Mm
Jonathan Kruger (03:46.517)
that's approved by the health department. We start preparing the food for all 50 ,000 people. The food court alone takes 400 volunteers. Now, what's amazing is that this is a two -day free festival. No parking fee, no entry fee. And, you know, to go to a festival today with great music, great vibe, good food, lots of good time and have
Bryan (04:06.209)
Mm -hmm.
Jonathan Kruger (04:14.742)
you know, free entry is amazing. It's really the Chicago Tribune in 2019 said we were the best run festival in the Chicagoland
Bryan (04:24.408)
That's awesome. It's amazing, too, because, you know, take the kids to the amusement park or the Renaissance Festival and boy, you easily drop three, four or five hundred bucks and it's probably a hundred bucks just to get to the parking lot. So. Yeah.
Jonathan Kruger (04:38.515)
or even just some of the bands that we have playing. I we have a seating for a thousand people. We also have a tent, two tents. One of the tents is a speaker's tent that seats a thousand people. That's how big it is. We're leading doctors and nutritionists and people in the industry are speaking, know, major players. And we fill up the tent. We do a vegetarian challenge every year. I think last time four or five thousand people signed up to take the vegetarian challenge.
Bryan (05:00.941)
That's
Jonathan Kruger (05:08.831)
But the thing about VeggieFest is that we're not here to convert people to become vegetarians. We want people to incorporate healthy living into their lifestyle how they think best. And so we're very careful to make a loving and compassionate environment where we're not really being pushy or anything. We want people to have fun, families to have fun, have a good time, and people decide for themselves as they learn what's best for them.
Bryan (05:37.676)
I love it. So what is some of the things that you've learned about the types of attendees that have come to your Veggie Fest and how does that guide your planning and event development?
Jonathan Kruger (05:49.333)
What's amazing is I would say if 50 ,000 people show up, know, maybe you'll have 5 ,000 vegetarians, you know, maybe a little bit, you people who are actually vegans and vegetarians. Most of the people, it's across the board. We have lots of families because it's a beautiful day out. It's being held at this incredible park. And what's amazing about the park, it's tucked into the woods. And unlike other festivals with that many people, there's a parking lot right next door that has 3500 parking spaces to seat everybody.
so people don't have to be busted. And so we get a lot of families coming out there. They want to go to the kids program, do some research, have some fun. And so we're got people all over that are coming to the festival.
Bryan (06:21.976)
That's
Bryan (06:35.212)
I love it. What is like, you know, this, is a business, right? I mean, we are, you know, are you trying to make more money every year? Are you trying to increase profits on that front? Are you trying to break even? Like, what is the goal for this besides the awareness to bring more people to this plant based life that we love so
Jonathan Kruger (06:47.348)
So.
Jonathan Kruger (06:55.221)
Well, I mean, the reality is that VeggieFest is a nonprofit, 5 .3c, associated with the International Meditation Center. And our goal is really just to pull even because it's really a community service that we see it and to raise awareness on how people can live healthier lives, whether it's healthy food, meditation, yoga, exercise, you know, whatever it might be. There are things people can do that just provide a little bit more happiness in their lives to make sure that they're
Bryan (07:23.608)
That's
Jonathan Kruger (07:24.585)
living healthier.
Bryan (07:26.37)
raise awareness about reducing suffering, eating healthier, saving the planet, all that good stuff. So what would be some of the quick tips that you'd give to other organizers across the United States that are trying to create their first one or improve the smaller offerings that they have? You have one of the biggest ones in the United States.
Jonathan Kruger (07:45.321)
Well, I think that one of the reasons our so successful is that we have a thousand volunteers who are people that we actually know that are committed to the festival itself. We don't really bring in outside volunteers. And because that makes a big difference, you know, we want to make sure that people who are serving and involved with the festival itself. And then there's a lot of work to be done, whether it's trash, parking, cleaning, cooking, I mean, on and on and on.
that the people who are involved are loving and kind and compassionate and know how to communicate with people and communicate with guests. Also is that, you know, there's probably, we probably got about 150 team leads. So it's a big thing. It's a big thing. And when we first started, we were moving along and then we brought in some senior people who helped run the festival, basically had business backgrounds, leadership backgrounds, knew how to delegate and, you
do this type of work on such a scale. So, you know, these are people who have a business sense or organizational sense, whether it's non -profit or whatever, and are good leaders because it all starts at the top with, you know, people setting the tone on how the festival is run.
Bryan (09:04.29)
I love it. What, like it feels like you have this perfect balance of entertainment, the food core, educational content. Which one came first and how do you secure some of these people that are speaking or performing?
Jonathan Kruger (09:21.353)
Well, I mean, the food came first, right? And then, you know, then there were some vendors in there and then a couple of speakers. And then, you know, we were getting, you know, people out there in the marketplace who are really big in the vegan community like Colin Campbell and John Sally and other people who are, you know, players and who speak all over the country. We don't charge at all. I mean, we don't pay our people who come.
So everyone has to volunteer. And the speakers do come in who are volunteers, because they want to contribute to the festival. And I think that makes a difference. it's a lot. mean, we haven't had Veggie Fest since 2019 because of COVID. So we're kind of relearning getting the groove going. And we started nine months
Bryan (10:05.057)
It is.
Jonathan Kruger (10:15.381)
10 months ago, just getting the planning process, because you've won, you're renting thousands and thousands of materials. You're setting up tents. The property itself that we're on has no electricity, no water, so we have to build an electrical grid, bring in water. We're building our own city. So, just like anything when it comes to a business, you've got to take it slow and do it step by step and make sure you don't overextend yourself, especially when you're investing.
Bryan (10:21.432)
I love
Bryan (10:31.726)
Mm -hmm.
Jonathan Kruger (10:44.233)
you know, a lot of money into something because, for us, because we don't charge, you know, the funds that come in are from sponsors and from vendors and then the food court. And I would say that our food is extremely competitive, that if you went out to lunch at Panera or, you know, any of these other places that we'd be much less. We're providing live music and a great time and good vibe and something to remember. mean, it's fun.
Bryan (11:14.978)
I hope I can bring my family up there next year for this festival.
Jonathan Kruger (11:19.327)
Well, we're not going to have any of this next year, Nick Bryan, unless you show
Bryan (11:22.606)
Okay, I'll be there. I'll be there. I apologize. I can't make it this year, but the computer nerd that the computer geek and the technology person inside of me wants to know like, how do you incorporate some of that technology to enhance the experience and and just take it to the next level?
Jonathan Kruger (11:28.873)
Yeah, we're in short notice.
Jonathan Kruger (11:40.597)
Well, mean, one is that we have a huge team of social media people and they're all in their 20s and they come from all over the world to support it. I mean, to give you an idea, I mentioned that in 2019, you know, for the month of June and two months into July, we had 10 ,000 hits on our website. And this year we have 50 ,000 hits on our website where the young people really know how to get the word out. When we first started, we were putting ads in the paper.
Now it's all social media. And it's kind of like things go viral on social media and the word gets out there. And then we look for people who are like influencers in the community. We're very connected. have all the chambers of commerce, all the villages and cities. We're doing a grand opening. gonna have the mayors come in. We got all kinds of people showing up to kind of kick off the event. So I think it's really a team effort as a community event for us.
and that we've gotten everybody involved because it's, we want it to be not just us who are making it happen, but everybody who's making it
Bryan (12:48.31)
I love it. I know like I have spoken with so many people as part of this podcast about the veg, the veg fest around the, around the globe, honestly. And so I find that there are, you know, there's the purest of us vegans and stuff like that. So, you know, to me, I'm with you in the sense that I want as many people to experiment with their health and their exercise and their mental health, all that stuff, and figure out what works for them.
I do think that the vegan diet is the right one, but everybody's got to find their path. How do you address that concern that some people have about the health and the different, you know, good or bad food that, you know, it's not the whole food plant based, no oil, whatever it is, you know, niche
Jonathan Kruger (13:28.831)
Well.
Jonathan Kruger (13:34.005)
So we have a combination of all of it. know, so for example, every booth is vegan with vegetarian option. No meat, no fish, no foul, no eggs. But there is some dairy options there, but everything has a vegan option. There's a vegan based and then there's choices. I've had pushback from the vegan community. Why aren't you all vegan? I've had pushback from the animal rights community saying, why aren't you really focusing on animal rights? And we believe in
Bryan (13:51.214)
Mm -hmm.
Jonathan Kruger (14:04.754)
But sometimes the animal rights community is a little bit aggressive and we want it to be a compassionate environment. We don't want to get in people's face. People understand and they'll see it. So we're kind of like a balance there where we provide a lot of information. I'd rather have someone become half a vegetarian than not at all or incorporate, okay, I'm going to get, I'm going to reduce my meat three days a week, four days a week, whatever it might
Bryan (14:27.544)
That's right.
Jonathan Kruger (14:32.543)
But when you come at it full, hey, you got to be a vegan today, if not, you know, that kind of thing, that just turns people off. So we're trying to I would say that we're trying to woo people. We're trying to celebrate the vegetarian lifestyle. And then people will follow their own way. And, know, that's what it comes from within. That's what makes change.
Bryan (14:37.186)
Yep. Yep.
Bryan (14:53.89)
That's right. I think that's a great answer to it. So I'm curious, where do you see it going next? I mean, you're already the premier one in the United States, but what is your sort of vision for the next five years or longer term goals?
Jonathan Kruger (15:06.291)
Well, we have a couple of visions. One is to incorporate our young people into our organization and bring them into leadership roles. know, many of us are at the retirement age and putting on a festival is like gigantic, you know, and so we need to incorporate our young people. We're also, we'll evaluate this year and how big we get because the festival is booming from, you know, right up to five o 'clock and then we're really pushing hard for people to come five to eight, you know,
dinner time and so forth to spread out the crowds. You know, the property probably could own 50, 60 ,000 people. If we get too big, then we got to find another property. And then it moves us away from our community that we have here that are supporting it. So it's possible as we move into the future, we don't know what we're going to do, you know, because if we get too big, then it's a
Bryan (15:58.893)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Jonathan Kruger (16:03.797)
You because you want to provide value, you want people to feel comfortable. And if the need is there, then we'll have to reevaluate. But the truth is, we got the parking that's right there. People have to be bussed in. We're in a beautiful park. For us, we're right next to the Science of Spirituality International Meditation Center, which is a beautiful center, one of 3 ,500 worldwide. We're a lot of where we put on the festival itself. And so it's easy access
getting to, you doing the things that we need to do. But we've moved around a lot over the years and then we found this one spot and it's like perfect. But it's perfect for 50, 60 ,000, which is really bonkers if you think about it. So, you know, the only other places would go is, if you go downtown Chicago, then, you know, the cost and the process and everything is just a lot. Just the fact that we get that many. Yeah.
Bryan (16:34.797)
I
Bryan (16:46.508)
Yeah, it is.
Bryan (16:56.942)
It's 50 bucks just for parking.
Jonathan Kruger (17:00.117)
The fact that we get that many people in the burbs. You know, I mean, I talk to people all the time. I'm not really shy. I think you can tell. And I'm talking to my business people. You know, I'm out there handing. We got this little cool little business cards that are like Veggie Fest size like this, you know, we kind of hand them out, you know, like easy to carry around. And I say, well, how many people you think would come to a festival like that? And they go, 500 ,000, five, maybe 2000, you know, that kind of thing. And I said, well.
And they're like, wow. And then when I tell them about it, they go, I'm going to be there. So it's exciting.
Bryan (17:34.839)
That's
Well, I really appreciate you reaching out and connecting with us and we wish you a ton of luck and success on this year's and I will be there for next year's and I hope you can come back and tell us how it went and maybe join us on some other episodes in the future. But my big question is how can the plant based on fire community support your initiatives and what are the best ways to get in touch, Jonathan?
Jonathan Kruger (18:03.199)
Well, the first thing is to go to www .veggiefestchicago .org. There's the website. It's got everything there. And then just start sharing with people. I mean, I have people calling me every day. I need hotel rooms. I'm coming in from New York. I'm coming in from North Carolina. I'm coming up in Ohio. People are coming in from all over the place. And we do have discounted hotel rooms for people. But I would say we just want to get the word out and have them come to the festival. Have a great time.
And when they get there, track me down, tell you found out because we're, know, real many, you know, from this particular podcast, that'd be very cool. If you give me a call during the festival, we'll do a little bit of FaceTime, show you around. Okay. And otherwise we're, we're excited that the work that you're doing, raising awareness, the value that you're providing to the community and every little bit of helps from, from everybody pitching
Bryan (18:45.592)
Sure, that'd be awesome.
Bryan (18:59.5)
I love it. So VeggieFestChicago .org. Check that out everybody. We really appreciate you hanging out with us for a few minutes, Jonathan. That is all the time we have for this episode of Plant Based on Fire. Thank you so much again, Jonathan, for sharing your insights and everybody go check out VeggieFest Chicago. Until next time, keep the fire burning.
Jonathan Kruger (19:08.465)
All right, thank you. Appreciate it, Bryan. Take care.
Jonathan Kruger (19:24.914)
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