Shindig & Festival of Vegan Living in Saugerties

(Photo by David Sax)

The Catskill Animal Sanctuary (CAS), located between Saugerties and Kingston on a lovable stretch of farmland once left as unloved and fallow as many of the animals that now call it home, has been more than a shelter and more of a beacon for hope since its beginnings at the beginning of this millennium. Home to more than 2,000 animals saved from a variety of circumstances, most handed over to loving homes, the place now includes a bed-and-breakfast enterprise in an 1813 homestead and a growing community of CAS-inspired followers who listen most intently when the Sanctuary folks celebrate the empathetic and healthful joys of a vegan, caring life.

On Saturday, October 5, the community is invited to the Catskill Animal Sanctuary’s 12th annual Shindig, expanded this year into a Festival of Vegan Living and running from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. with food from locavore vendors, gift items of a “cruelty-free” nature, personal care products and clothing that do not include animal byproducts, a silent auction, and music.

Victoria Moran, wellness coach and best-selling author of a dozen books including her newest, Main Street Vegan, will speak. There will be vegan cooking demos with guest chefs Nava Atlas, David Hall, Jenne Claiborne and CAS’s own Chef Linda.

And instead of crowding everyone onto the backroads leading to CAS, upsetting the freed animals there, this year’s event will feature off-site parking at Cantine Field in Saugerties and shuttle buses.

Shindig, Saturday, October 5, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., $15/$10/$5, Catskill Animal Sanctuary, 316 Old Stage Road, Saugerties, park at Cantine Field, between Market & Washington Streets, Saugerties; (845) 336-8447, www.casanctuary.org.