Plant-Based Musical Festival Eater’s Guide

Waiting ages in line for food while rocking out at a music festival is not what dreams are made of. While sometimes a sad reality, we’re here as your guide to know where to grab the best plant-based grub while swaying away to your favorite tunes at Coachella, Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, and other jamborees.

While some festivals offer great music, they can fall short when it comes to the food. Others are known for offering great cuisine, with some of the attendees even partially (or mostly) at the festivals to try out the amazing and unique eats.

In fact, as someone who’s attended numerous music festivals one of the most memorable experiences — beyond dancing to my favorite artists live — has been the incredible festival food. Here are my top tips for finding the best grub:

1. Scope out the vegan options as early as possible when the food lineup comes out (if it does). You’d be surprised at how some of the vendors have incorporated choices for even the smallest niches of dietary needs. For music festivals with highlighted food truck lots/events, the organizers of the festival will almost always include a large variety of cuisines.

2. If there is no food lineup published, or limited information about the specific food vendors at the festival, consult with previous attendees or friends. I have found reddit and other forums on music festivals are incredibly helpful for preparation, too.

3. If you get to the festival, and there aren’t any food vendors offering explicitly vegan options, you can always ask food vendors if they are able to modify something for you to meet your dietary needs — like leaving the cheese out of a veggie burrito, or removing the egg from an otherwise plant-based ramen bowl.

4. If it really appears that vendors won’t have options on site, you can always check the festival rules and regulations for their policy on bringing outside food in. If you choose this route, remember that preparation is key — fresh or cooked food that doesn’t keep well in hot or damp climates is probably not the best thing to pack. Think camping foods: granola bars, sandwiches, nuts and seeds, plant-based protein snacks like popcorn or pretzels, and other non-perishables. Citrus, pome or stone fruits like apples, nectarines, or clementines are a great easy-to-eat snack or refresher to pack, since they are hydrating and restorative to blood-sugar levels. They also have great energy-boosting qualities.

Here’s our list of the country’s top music festivals and some of the vegan vendors you can find at each one:

2018 highlights included:

• Cena Vegan
• Herbivorous Butcher
• Juice crafters
• Magpie’s (Vegan ice cream and treats)
• Pinche’s Tacos
• Seabirds
• Little Pine
• Sage
• Monty’s Good Burgers
• Badmaash
• Ramen Hood (100% vegan)
• Cocobella
• Chego
• Mom’s Spaghetti
• Kogi
• Afters Ice Cream
• Mcconnell’s
• Van Leeuwen
• Vibe Organic Kitchen

More info about Coachella eats here.

2018 highlights included:

• BJ’s Market and Grocery
• Edzo’s Burger Shop
• Dia De Los Tamales
• Edzo’s Burger Shop
• Harold’s Chicken Shack
• Harris Ice
• Kamehachi
• Kilwin
• Leghorn Chicken
• M Burger
• Naf Naf Middle Eastern Grill
• Sausage Haus
• SugarBliss
• Tallboy Taco
• Tank Noodle
• Goddess and Grocer
• Smoke Daddy

More info about Lollapalooza eats here.

Outside Lands is known for its good eats. Past highlights included:

• Koja Kitchen (vegan fries)
• Azalina’s (Peanut Tofu Nachos)
• The American Grilled Cheese Kitchen (crispy sweet brussels sprouts)
• Cannaisseur Series (peach sorbet & ginger float with purple basil blossom, beet hummus with seasonal veggies)
• Curry Up Now (burritos/bowls, samosas, sexy fries, and ginger mint lemonade)
• Dinosaurs (crispy tofu bahn mi tea sandwich, watermelon litchi smoothie, vietnamese iced coffee – vegan option)
• Dabba (nitro chai, curried popcorn)
• Hawker Fare (blistered green beans w/o bacon)
• Jackrabbit Kitchen (seasonal salad)
• Juice Shop (everything on the menu is vegan)
• Kara’s cupcakes (vegan chocolate cupcakes)
• Little Skillet (watermelon salad)
• Nombe (japanese hot fries)
• Powder (banana coconut flavor)
• Pica Pica Arepa Kitchen (sweet plantain arepa, yuca fries, garlic yuca fries, sweet plantains)
• Rocko’s Ice Cream Tacos (frozen bananas, chai/matcha latte, lattes)
• Straw (chips and salsa/guac)
• SF Kebab Mediterranean (falafel plate, hummus & pita
• Southpaw BBQ (smoked jackfruit sandwich, sweet potato tots, coleslaw)
• Tartine Manufactory (early girl tomato soup with pumpkin seed salsa)
• Tacolicious (summer squash and corn tacos)

Organizers have confirmed that the annual “SouthBites Trailer Park” won’t be a feature this year at the festival. Highlights of Austin’s vegan food truck scene include:

• Arlo’s (all vegan)
• BBQ Revolution (all vegan bbq)
• Bomb tacos (zucchini tacos)
• Cazamance (vegan coconut curry)
• Conscious cravings (everything here is vegetarian and they have plenty of vegan options)
• Red Star Southern (beet loaf with vegan gravy)
• The Vegan Nom
• The Vegan Yacht

2018 highlights include:

• 2Sisters (Portabella Mushroom Pitas)
• Ahli Baba’s Kabob Shop (Falafel pita sandwiches and falafel plates)
• Asian Sensation (Tofu rice bowls and vegetable fried rice)
• Breakfast 24/7
• Bulldog Burgery (veggie burger & fries)
• Coco Bongos (fruity smoothies)
• Crossroads Café
• Blue Mesa Grill
• Dave’s Mini Donuts
• Ears N Spuds (roasted corn and baked potato)
• Farm to Taco (tacos, chips & guac)
• Five Senses
• Good Golly Tamale (vegan tamales)
• Hebro’s Kitchen
• Hippie Dips
• Humpty’s Dumplings (vegan dumplings)
• International Foods (grilled veggies)
• Jalapeño Corndog Concessions
• Just Brewed Coffee
• Just Squeezed Lemonade
• King of Pops
• Lao Street Foods (pad thai, other noodle dishes)
• Outback Kate’s
• Ozark Mountain Biscuit Co.
• Peace Love Quesadillas
• Phat Daddie’s Creole Eats
• Poncho’s Mexican Cafe (loaded burritos and rice plates with veggies)
• Pretzel Revolution
• Roti Rolls
• Strawberry Fields
• Super Tot Truck
• The Beet Box (ALL gourmet vegan food!)
• The Benevolent Burrito (custom burritos)
• The Big Cheese
• The Cracked Truck
• The Taco Tent

LIB is known and loved by foodies. Highlights include a “live fire cooking experience” called The Cookout, a giant, community-style event where prominent chefs show off some of their top dishes. Vendors offering vegan options include:

• Dutch Bros (plant-based milks and vegan coffee)
• STK (some market salads and sides)
• Afters Ice Cream (vegan ice cream)
• Bling Bling Dumplings (shiitake vegan dumplings!)
• Boqueria Street (veggie bocata roll)