WATSONVILLE >> Every September, when the annual fair returns to the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds, attendees can expect to see tons of booths selling grilled and deep-fried meats or products loaded with cheese. In other words: not a whole lot for vegans.

This Saturday will bring a completely different scene to the Fairgrounds as VegFest Santa Cruz moves from its home at the Cocoanut Grove at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk to a much bigger venue with live entertainment, activities and vegan food galore.

Vegans will not find themselves in situations where they have to scan the menus for little v’s or plant symbols, ask if any of the items were cooked on the same grill as the meats or if chicken stock was used in the rice. Everything prepared by the vendors is made especially for them, and even those who are not vegan but thinking about going vegan can get a glimpse of all the diet has to offer.

This is the second year in a row the festival has been organized by Helbard and Camilla Alkhassadeh, who also operate the animal rescue nonprofit Little Hill Sanctuary in Royal Oaks. The farm provides a home for chickens, pigs, goats, turkeys, sheep and other animals rescued from slaughter.

Helbard Alkhassadeh said Little Hill came about after he and Camilla Alkhassadeh moved from downtown Santa Cruz and purchased farmland in Royal Oaks. As they were deciding what to do with the land, they decided to rescue a 3-month-old lamb on a whim.

“He became our first rescue, and it kind of all snowballed after that,” he said. “We started rescuing more and more animals and decided to become a nonprofit, and once we became a nonprofit, we decided to do it full time.”

Little Hill Sanctuary differs from other animal rescue farms in that it becomes a forever home for all of its animal rescues.

“We have about 70 animals onsite,” said Helbard Alkhassadeh. “None of our animals get fostered out or adopted out once they come to us. They stay with us for the rest of their lives, but we help and assist with the rescue of about a thousand animals every year.”

VegFest debuted at the Cocoanut Grove in 2019, but the COVID-19 pandemic postponed it for four years until it marked its return in 2024.

By that time, previous organizer Wendy Gabbe had handed the reins over to the Alkhassadehs who served on the committee for the previous festival. That year was a success, drawing hundreds to the Cocoanut Grove.

“It worked out really well,” said Helbard Alkhassadeh. “It worked out too well. It was such a success that we decided that we needed a bigger and better venue.”

Thus, the festival has been moved to the Fairgrounds this year. While the previous years had vendors and activities entirely indoors, Helbard Alkhassadeh said this change in venue will allow it to be spread out both indoors and outdoors, allowing for food trucks, electric vehicle and robotic tractor exhibits and vendors who can now prepare food over open flames.

“We’re capable of not only having the event indoors with the vendors and exhibitors that wanted to be indoors, but now we can also have folks that wanted to be outdoors because there were so many limitations on how they could prepare their food in an indoor venue,” he said.

This year will feature more than 40 food vendors including 831 Candy Company, Solstice Foods, Souley Vegan, Southern Fried Vegan, Veg On The Edge, Esperanza Community Farms, Vurger Guyz, Zen Natural Foods, Fungi Foods and more. The vendors will serve meat- and dairy-free takes on favorite dishes such as burgers, tacos, doughnuts, sushi, soul food and even deli slices.

“The variety is just incredible,” said Helbard Alkhassadeh. “Right now, we’re in the golden era of vegan food. There’s so much going on, and it’s so exciting to actually have a vegan festival while the industry is moving more and more towards vegan food.”

But it is not just food vendors on the festival’s proverbial menu. There will also be cooking demonstrations by Souley Vegan founder Tamearra Dyson, Cultiva chef Maria Gonzalez, Eat for the Earth founder Beth Love and Areperia 831 chef Vrinda Quintero. Speeches will also be delivered by figures in the animal rights and health and plant-based food movements, including Justify founder Madeline Krasno, Food Empowerment Project founder lauren Ornelas, vegan author Sid Garza-Hillman, social critic and total liberation activist Yvette Baker, JSM Organics founder Javier Zamora, local Krishna spiritual leader Srila Bhakti Pavan Janardan Maharaj, Befriend Cows founder Preethi Srinivas and Plant Based Treaty city campaigner Amy Jean Davis.

Entertainment will include standup comedy sets by vegan comics Danielle Arce and Matt Gubser, a Bhakti yoga ceremony, story time readings by Vaidehi Normand and Srinivas, a drag story time reading by Xinistra Gl’Amour and live musical performances by The Inciters, Adam Stafford, Mariachi Alma de Mexico and Angeles Danzantes. There will also be a kids zone with a bounce house and arts and crafts.

“It’s a great opportunity for parents to bring their kids and spend a Saturday doing something that not only is fun, but it helps kids see the world of sustainability, a world of eating cruelty-free foods and seeing all the people that are there to support it,” said Helbard Alkhassadeh.

He also noted there will be an emphasis on farming and what farmers have to go through to put food on the table, which is why he felt it was exciting to bring the event to Watsonville and what he called “the salad bowl of the world.”

Helbard Alkhassadeh hopes to not only reach vegans with VegFest but those considering a plant-based diet which he said is beneficial for the environment and could help prevent climate change and pandemics such as the avian flu.

“It’s not just about animal rights and eating cruelty-free,” he said. “It’s actually about humanity and which direction we’re going.”

VegFest is 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday at the Santa Cruz County Fairgrounds, 2601 E. Lake Ave., Watsonville. Tickets are $5 in advance and $10 at the door. Kids 12 and under get in for free. Parking is free for vehicles with three or more people but $10 otherwise.

For more information, go to VegFestSantaCruz.org.