1. 11www.eatmagazine.ca NOVEMBER | DECEMBER 2014
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THE HEALTH, WELLNESS &
SUSTAINABILITY FESTIVAL
H
ealth, wellness and sustainability are concerns most EAT readers share, and
that’s the focus of this second annual festival on February 7 at the
Victoria Conference Centre. Previously known as the Gluten-Free Health
and Wellness Festival, this year’s more inclusive event has expanded to
include many healthy living options, including acupuncture, naturopathy
and massage therapy; health-minded cosmetics and skincare; gluten-free foods; and
fitness, yoga and martial arts studios.
“The goal of the festival is creating strong communities in health for all ages,”
explains producer Ari Hershberg. “It takes a village to raise a child, and I believe it
takes a city to improve health.
“Our major sponsors are Origin Bakery, the local gluten-free bakery, and Pacific Rim
College, an internationally-recognized school of complementary and integrative
medicine. The Downtown Victoria Business Association, the Fairmont Empress, Silk
Road Tea, Health Essentials, the public library, BC Transit, the Pacific School of
Innovation and Inquiry and many other community groups and businesses are con-
tributing to this year’s event. It’s so exciting to work with PSII’s high school students!”
Hershberg enthuses. “They’ve helped with the festival’s design and advertising while
making it more youth accessible and participatory with our hands-on science fair.”
Festival vendors will offer an array of gluten-free food, beverages and cosmetics to
sample and buy while educating visitors on health, wellness and sustainability. Share
Organics, Rise Kombucha, Health Essentials and Float House, a Victoria-based sensory
deprivation and flotation centre, are some of the many new vendors at this year’s
event.
The festival hosts almost a dozen guest speakers ranging from University of
Calgary’s Dr. Bonnie Kaplan’s talk on how nutrition affects the brain to Silk Road Tea’s
Daniela Cubelic’s insights into the benefits of tea drinking. The 30-minute talks are
held in a private theatre setting with great acoustics, and Hershberg emphasizes that
the “Tedx Talks-coached speakers” will be “entertaining, with no selling!”
This year’s special guest evening speaker is fermentation expert Sandor Katz, author
of the award-winning bestseller The Art of Fermentation and Wild Fermentation. In 2009,
Chow named Katz one of the magazine’s top trendsetters and rabble-rousers. The
charismatic Katz lives in a rural community in Tennessee. His talk at 7 p.m. is sure to
be provocative, informative and entertaining.
To kick off the festival, a one-of-a-kind, five-course dinner will be held the evening
before (February 6, 7 p.m.) at Dunlop House, 3100 Foul Bay Rd., put on by Camosun
College chef trainees. Tickets are $75 and include beverages, with proceeds going to
Island Chefs Collaborative charities. —By Joseph Blake
EAT SPECIAL PROMOTION
Early bird tickets (online at www.healthandwellnessfestival.ca) are $25, $15 for
students and seniors. Tickets at the door are $40, $25 for students and seniors.
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