42nd IVU World Vegfest – Accra, Ghana, October 2014
POSTPONED DUE TO EBOLA VIRUS
Unfortunately due to Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa IVU 42nd World Vegfest in Ghana and Togo had to be cancelled. It will most probably be postponed to 2015. We very much regret this sad moment West African people is facing and send our best votes for a prompt surpassing of this deadly viral outbreak. Special votes for the organizers who had worked tirelessly for nearly two years. Below a note of Emmanuel Eyoh, IVU Regional Representative for Africa:
Cancellation Of 42nd World Vegfest in Africa
Hi everyone,
We regret to announce the cancellation of the 42nd World Vegfest events that was to be held in Ghana& Togo Oct 1-8,2014 .The cancellation is due to the dreaded ebola virus disease currently ravaging some West African countries.We are going to observe the situation for sometime and come up with details on the Worldvegfest-which will still take place in Africa.I want to take this opportunity to thank the organisers in Ghana & Togo for all their efforts to ensure that Africa host the 1st ever World Vegfest.
Pls kindly increase your personal hygiene and educate your community to stop eating bush meat and all meat products to curtail the spread of Ebola virus disease.
Thank you.
Emmanuel Eyoh
For all the latest details see:
www.vegghana.org
Tell us you're going - on the fb event page
Below is a brief summary of the event.
The 42nd IVU World Vegfest will be held in Accra, Ghana, in October 2014 and will last for six days - the first ever world veg event in Africa!
A variety of activities will be put together to culminate in a great celebration of enlightened people creating more awareness and inspiring the general public to live a healthy lifestyle based on a vegetarian diet.
All food at this great event will be entirely derived from plants, and all aspects will be consistent with vegan philosophy.
The following is a provisional summary of proposed activities (subject to change) to mark the 6 day celebration:
Wednesday, October 1
– Arrivals, registration and opening ceremonies. An international themed dinner for guests in the evening as a way to meet people from around the world.
Thursday, October 2
– Awareness Walk from Kwame Nkrumah Circle to the Ministry of Health. The walk is about 5 km in total and the aim is to create awareness as well as engage the Minister of Health by presenting him with a letter on our position on the state of the nation’s health from a vegetarian perspective.
There will be a dinner and film show in the evening as a way to relax after the walk.
Friday, October 3
- A day visit to two orphanages to donate food items and spend time with the children. A few vegetarian menus will be given to the caterer to try and incorporate a few veggie dishes a week into their diet. Organize clean up exercise with them and have lunch with them.
In the evening there will be a dinner at the Efua Sutherland Children’s Park in Accra. We will use this opportunity to introduce to the world authentic Ghanaian dishes that are suitable for vegetarians. Many of these dishes are almost forgotten in many parts of Ghana today!
Saturday, October 4
– This is the main seminar day. The event will take place at the Accra International Conference Center with two main auditoriums used. This will enable attendants to have a choice at any time of two different speakers and topics to listen to. This part of the event will include a food fair and health products exhibition. The local public will get a chance to sample some veggie dishes.
In the evening we shall have a night of musical performances from enlightened musicians who will be engaged on helping the Association to drive the message to the public on the need to live a healthy lifestyle.
Sunday, October 5
– Vegan Youth Day. This day is especially dedicated to the upcoming generation however this does not mean adults will not attend. It is just a way of highlighting the importance of the next generation seeing the importance of adopting a healthier diet early in life. The event will be held at the Conference center and will include a forum where the youth will be addressed by key note speakers who will help direct their decision making regarding their diet towards a healthier option. There will be youth drama, a question and answers session to help equip the youth with the truth. Attendants shall also enjoy a film show while the food fair and products exhibition will continue. A second room will have speakers addressing the concerns of the adults in attendance simultaneously.
Monday, October 6
– Visit to select tourist attractions outside Accra returning same day. We will have several options of such day trips where depending on budget and time available, guests may choose to join anyone of several guided tours to see more of the host country – Ghana!
Some examples are visits to Cape Coast which will include a visit to the Castle and Kakum Forest Canopy Walkway. A visit to the Akwapim hills where guests can visit the Aburi Botanical gardens and Tetteh Quarshie’s original cocoa farm among other attractions.
During October we will be privileged to have several traditional festivals occurring, namely Odwira in the Akwapim region, Ngmayem festival of the Krobos and the Sasaadu festival of the people of Alavanyo in the Volta region. We shall also have a n option to tour Accra to see the Kwame Nkrumah memorial Park, Old town Accra, the Art Center and more!
Guests wishing to see more of Ghana can do so by booking one of several options of packages that will start on Tuesday morning when most depart. We will be able to arrange accommodation for a range of budgets from hostel to five star. The details of all these options including discounted pricing will be made available shortly so guests can select their tours before they arrive.
We are also working on ways in which we can create more value to encourage vegetarians from other African countries to participate.
We trust that this letter shall leave you with a better impression of the eagerness of the Vegetarian Association of Ghana to host this prestigious event and advance the cause of our vegetarian fraternity worldwide.
VAG Vegetarian Association of Ghana
See VAG on Facebook
The preparations for hosting the second leg of the 42nd World Vegetarian Festival is also going on frantically in TOGO. Immediately after the festival celebrations in Ghana, precisely on the 6th of October participants will be conveyed in an air-conditioned luxurious bus for a three hour journey to Lomé, the capital of Togo. Lomé is the only capital city in Africa that is situated at the border with her neighboring country, Ghana.
Togo successfully organized the first ever Pan-African Vegetarian Congress in a Franco-phone country in 2012. Co-hosting the events marking the 42nd World Vegetarian Festival is a great opportunity for the Vegetarian Associations in Togo to take one step further in bringing the Vegan world into limelight for Togolese people. Since French-speaking people cover a larger area (12 countries out of 16) in the region, it is only befitting that a truly global event on the continent, should permit the non –English speaking people to equally have the same impact and benefit of this momentous gathering of Vegan families around the world. An arrangement has been made for instant translations and interpretations of the discourses during the festival. Togo occupy a strategic central location in sub-Sahara Africa and the peaceful atmosphere which reigns in the country makes it a tourist attraction.
*FESTIVAL REGISTRATION*
Participants are expected to register their intention to continue to the second and the third leg of the festival in both Togo and Nigeria. 50 seats chattered air-conditioned bus from GH to Lomé costs $2000 and from Lomé to Lagos, $2500. This comes to $90 per pers.
Festival fee is $50. Two meals per day( excluding festival food distribution) and mobilization.
*VISA REQUIREMENTS*
Visa can be obtained at the Togo border for all participants who could not obtain Togo visa in their home countries. The same applies for Benin Republic, a country in between TOGO and NIGERIA. The transit visa fee in Benin Republic is CFA 10 000 or $20 equivalence. The visa fee for Togo differs from one country to another. Here is an overview:
USA --- $30
EU --- $20
BRAZIL & LATIN AMERICA --- $50
INDIA---- $20
MALAYSIA--- FREE
Please contact us if your area is not covered in the list.
Unlike Togo and Benin, NIGERIA does not offer visa at the border. Hence, all those who want to visit Nigeria and cannot obtain visa from their home country have to obtain the visa at the Nigerian Embassy in Togo. We have already made an application for this purpose. Here is an overview of the visa fees for Nigeria:
USA---- $110
ENGLAND --- $60
FRANCE --- $90
BELGIUM --- $90
INDIA --- $80
MALAYSIA --- $30
THAILAND --- $20
BRAZIL --- $90
Other EU countries can expect to pay the same as for Belgium. If there are however participants whose countries are not covered kindly get in touch and we shall do the needful.
The closest Hotel in the vicinity of the festival Venue is Hotel St Thomas. It is less than ten minutes walk to the venue, AGORA SENGHOR. The hotel Rooms range from $80 – 110 for double rooms and $70 – 100 for single rooms. We shall keep you posted on other levels of accommodation that are available in due course of time.
*HOTEL RESERVATION*
The closest Hotel in the vicinity of the festival Venue is Hotel St Thomas. It is less than ten minutes walk to the venue, AGORA SENGHOR. The Hotel Rooms range from $80 – 110 for double rooms and $70 – 100 for single rooms. We shall keep you posted on other levels of accommodation that are available in due course of time.
The second Hotel is called St Manick and it is also about the same distance. Prices are more or less the same and both Hotels have Wifi. The third Hotel is a 4 star. Price range is from $130 to $330+
*PROGRAMES*
October 6th is the arrival day. The application for Nigeria visas will be submitted the same day for those who will continue to the third leg of the festival.
OCT 7th is the carnival. There will be a motor-cade parade of the city of Lomé which will terminate with ten minutes walk to the Venue of Exposition of Vegetarian stalls and refreshments.
OCT 8th Conference on "VEGETARISME : LA SANTE ENVIRONEMENT NON VIOLENCE
On behalf of the Festival Committee we look forward to your participation and a delightful experience of African hospitality awaits you in Togo.
Interested speakers should make their discourses available to the email address below, a month before the event. This is to enable us to get them translated and documented well ahead of the conference.
Payment via Wire Transfer
ORABANK TOGO, 11 Avenue du 24 Janvier
BP 325 LOME
BANK CODE: TG 116
CURRENCY CODE: 01001
Clé RIB (RIB KEY) 55
ACCOUNT NUMBER: 023958382001
INTERNATIONAL ID (IBAN): TG53TG1160100102395838200155
CODE SWIFT: ORBKTGTG
DOMICILIATION/ CITY : LOME
ACCOUNT NAME: Festival Panafricain Du Vegetarisme TOGO
02 BP 20280
Lome-Togo
For any other info please refer to VICTOR ADE-DAVIES
(aka Varaha Acarya)
emaill: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Tel: +228 22 42 37 31
Cell: + 228 90 95 60 91
+ 228 90 01 00 76
2nd West Africa Veg Congress, Accra 2009:
More photos from Ghana 2009
National Veg Week, Accra, 2011:
More photos from Ghana 2011
Photos from the Pan-Africa Congress, Lome, Togo, November 2012
From Emmanuel Eyoh, IVU Representative for Africa, President of the Nigeria Vegetarian Society:
I wholeheartedly support Ghana’s hosting of VegFest 2014 in Africa.
At the moment Ghana has the strongest vegetarian association in Africa with several hundreds of members i.e. The Vegetarian Association of Ghana [VAG]. The VAG committee is made up of representatives of the various groups advocating the vegetarian way of life in Ghana.
The organization was founded in 2005 by a vegan nutritionist, Nathan Adu. Nathan runs a successful vegetarian restaurant in Accra central, which serves a meeting place for VAG and various other groups in Ghana.
He is assisted by the secretary Emmanuel Awunyo, a senior government official, and many others. Their Patron is the former chief judge of Ghana, and they work in partnership with the various groups in Accra. I have attended 3 veg festivals in Ghana, in 2007, 2009 and 2011. All 3 events were well organized with a large number of participants. I helped organize the 2009 West African veg event in Ghana which was attended by many individuals and groups throughout the West African Sub-region and beyond.
Since then the vegetarian movement has been growing in Ghana. I recently held a meeting with the VAG representatives, late November in Lome, Togo at the Pan African Vegetarian festival. From all indications, I think they are very much ready and capable of hosting the IVU World VegFest in 2014.
They have started mobilizing the various groups in Ghana towards hosting the Vegfest. VAG has the government of Ghana backing and support. The Govt has a vegetarian desk in the ministry of health, where is banner display on the wall urging people to follow a vegetarian diet.
Finally Ghana is one of the most peaceful and stable countries in Africa with low crime rate.
For more about Ghana - the official tourism site
As well as the Vegetarian Association of Ghana (VAG, IVU member since 2008), we also have the Christian VegSoc of Ghana (IVU member since 2002), led by Korblah Korblah-Wisdom, and groups from Hare Krishna and Ching Hai, all happy to work together under VAG leadership for this event, as they have for previous events.
Some links: briefly about VAG
2nd West Africa Congress, 2009 - IVU raised some funding via donations for this.
More recent photos etc. are all on Facebook - this is the 2011 VAG annual veg week
Finally – Happycow - lists 8 veg restaurants in Accra, four of them completely vegan, plus a health food store and veg accommodation - and more around the rest of Ghana.
For all the latest details see: www.vegghana.org
Tell us you're going - on the fb event page
- Created on .