Los Angeles hosted the first ever Vegan Street Fair on Sunday, which is an annual vegan food celebration that includes vendors from all over the city.

Veganism is a diet and lifestyle where people eat solely from the plant kingdom. Not only do they not eat animals, they don’t use animal products on their body or in their cooking.

Given the amount of beneficial reasons being a vegan has and the fact that many people in Los Angeles are attracted to healthier, environment-friendly lifestyles, it was a no-brainer that the event was going to have a big turnout.

What the organizers didn’t realize was exactly how big the turnout would be and boy did they underestimate.

The Vegan Street Fair had free admission with the option of purchasing tickets for all the offered tastings. In order to get the food, you had to buy tickets because the vendors didn’t accept cash.

The whole fair was filled and surrounded with lines everywhere. Some attendees were even standing in a line not knowing what the line was for.

Yes, big crowds and long lines are expected for a street fair, but it quickly becomes an unpleasant experience when it feels so disorganized. There was a point where one couldn’t walk through the fair because there were too many people going both ways because of lack of direction. It was just like a human traffic jam.

At 2 p.m., what seemed like a nice partly cloudy day, turned into a very wet and cold hail storm. Everyone tried to scurry under a tent to avoid getting soaked.

The hail storm lasted about 15 minutes and once the hail stopped and the rain became bearable, lines started forming and the fair regained its congestion.

Despite the inevitable crowd, the Vegan Street Fair reminded people that vegan food can be so darn delicious. From soy-chorizo tacos, to strawberry basil donuts, to vegan Thai iced tea and gluten-free cookies, there wasn’t a vendor there that wasn’t getting business.

It’s events like these that help make people aware of what is going on in their city. Using food is a brilliant way to connect people and bring awareness to a cause, lifestyle and anything for that matter. It’s a great opportunity for these vegan vendors to make themselves and their business known to those who may not understand what being a “vegan” is.

Overall, with a turnout like they had at this year’s Vegan Street Fair, it can safely be assumed that this is just the “veganning.”

This fair, with major improvements on size control and directional issues, has great potential to becoming one of the best food fairs in Los Angeles.