Thank you for writing this article. I wish for unity and harmony for the vegan movement in all ways. May our differences not slow our progress in helping animals.
This is brilliant. I have been a speaker at the Vegan Campout twice and worked at a stall there several other times - it is an absolutely brilliant event that does so, so much for our cause. Jordan and Ellis are lovely people. This vitriol and hate towards them and what they have created makes me so sad. You say it perfectly: "The fastest way to a vegan future is to give people what they want, but vegan." And we're lucky to have businesses like VCO doing just that.
David, as in your previous piece about VCO, you make some interesting and valid points regarding the challenges of being vegan in a non-vegan world. I agree with you that aiming for purism may be counter to the vegan cause.
I know only a little about the "drama" surrounding VCO that you refer to and I have no interest in knowing more. Under no circumstances is it okay to use the kind of language that you have illustrated in the screenshots here. I am aware that there is a lot of toxicity behind the scenes, which is both unfortunate and very sad.
Having said this, I also find your piece to be somewhat accusatory and divisive. To place people who have issues with VCO into three categories is demeaning to those who have read the facts and made up their own minds. I have never been to VCO and don't intend to, but the event raises some serious concerns about what attendees are supporting with regard to farming and bloodsports, as well as wildlife disturbance. Which category of people who have concerns about VCO does that put me in? I am not "deeply troubled" or "radical", and I do not concur with your assumption that I am one of the 'other' group of vegans who are "genuinely misinformed and have been tricked into removing support for the event by the first two groups".
I first heard about the issues of concern when I read Hertfordshire Hunt Saboteurs' post on the subject (https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BoDe9MjzV/). There was nothing radical about this post and the people who wrote it were not deeply disturbed. They stated facts and were sharing those facts out of genuine concern and care about the event, those planning to attend, and of course the animals being exploited by the hosts. There is nothing in their post that could possibly place them in your first two groups: the "deeply troubled" and the "radicals". Therefore, I believe I must fall into a fourth group of people that you have missed: those that made up their minds about this event based on the facts that were presented to them in good faith.
Aside from the farming and bloodsports issues that HHS informed us about, I later learned that loud music will be played in the woodland at this event. This alone would be enough to make me want to boycott the event. In my opinion, it's not acceptable to disturb wildlife so that people can enjoy a party. This goes wholly against my vegan values.
I am also uncomfortable that you have used this platform to single out members of the Hunt Saboteurs Association (HSA) as having been "a core part of the drama and misinformation around this event". That may be true, but I think you need to be careful not to tarnish the reputation of the HSA and of hunt sabs in general, not least because you have chosen to shorten the HSA to "Hunt Saboteurs", and later "Hunt Sabs". This is ambiguous as some may believe you are referring to "hunt sabs" rather than to the Association itself. Regardless of who you are referring to, stating that "the Hunt Sabs and the radical types within tend to hold anarchistic, anti-capitalist views" is a sweeping statement to say the least.
Another issue that has put me off VCO (as if I needed more reason) is the bombardment of private messages I received from Jordan after I posted comments on your previous post about VCO. Jordan used what I consider to be extreme and unnecessary language, sent me a friend request and started tagging me in posts without even checking with me first that it would be okay. This was not okay and certainly not professional.
I do wonder whether your piece will unfortunately serve to stir things up more rather than help to make the peace and promote the vegan cause. VCO and the "drama" surrounding the event had not been on my mind and probably not on the mind of many of the people I will share your piece with.
Hey Shelagh! Thanks so much for your comment. Just to answer a few things you said -
To put your mind at ease - Vegan Camp Out (our our attendees) have never supported farming or bloodsports in all the years of being an event. This is something very important to us - our event is quite the opposite of supporting such things! (We have a post on social media talking about all the stats of positive things done for animals through the event)
The Facebook post you linked/referenced is not part of the VCO venue land. It's not radical no, just misinformed/incorrect! We did release a statement to let everyone know this (I'm not sure if you saw it!)
We appreciate your concern for wildlife also, ut there is no more of a wildlife disturbance at this year's VCO than previous years. No loud music will be played in the woodlands either. This comes from a misunderstanding given we did originally call it "woodland DJ sets" back 8 months ago when we first announced the 2025 details in August, before the event properly launched later in November, due to there simply being some trees there, but we since put out a clarification on that also - that it's in an open air section of the arena surrounded by trees - but away from the woodland!
Thanks for taking the time to read our reply and hope to see you at the event one year! ❤️ - Admin
Unfortunately, in trying to smooth things over, you might very well have made things worse. Not everyone who objects to hunting is “associated with the Hunt Sabs Association “. Much of the criticism you received concerning hunting on the land will have come from people who are not sabs and not in the HSA. However, you have chosen to vilify the HSA because you have assumed this is the case. I am defending the HSA not because I am in it, but because my organisation - Action Against Foxhunting (a peaceful campaign group) - has the deepest regard for the HSA and they should not be used as scapegoats for the criticism you’ve received concerning hunting. Just because the HSA is the only anti hunt group you’ve heard of doesn’t mean you should pick on them in this way. Pip Donovan, Chair of AAF.
Am amazed that you've reduced anyone who has spoken out against VCO's choice of venue into 3 oversimplified and frankly insulting categories. You've missed out an entire group of people who at their core put animals’ welfare first and foremost, and do not want to contribute to funds reaching a landowner who is involved in blasting innocent birds from the sky or intensively farming chickens, irrespective of whether it happens on that particular field or not, it still benefits them. Where do you draw the line exactly? Would you think it appropriate to approach say the Chargot or Badminton Estates to host a vegan event? It absolutely IS a “moral thing” and one you seem to be sidestepping by posting up derogatory comments made by a handful of people (who do not represent the majority who have questioned your ethics) in an attempt to illicit an emotional response deflecting away from the main issue. It’s extremely manipulative.
I have been vegan for nearly 20 years, veggie for a few years before that, long before it was “easy” or “trendy” and have supported the little ethical vegan businesses the whole time. Obviously there are compromises, for instance you can’t easily get away from having to use shops that sell non vegan products in general, but I will not buy vegan products (food or otherwise) made by meat, dairy, or animal testing companies (Unilever, P&G, etc), and as soon as a vegan brand is swallowed up by one of those then I will boycott, as these companies take market share away from the ethical producers. I also would not touch vegan items from the likes of McDonalds or KFC.
As for the disturbance to the wildlife, you do realise that animals are not confined to woods? They will have territories that cover the majority of the countryside, that is of course if the landowner hasn’t killed them all already. They won’t understand what all the noise and movement is about, it will be stressful and may cause them to forage into other territories where they could get into fights. Frankly I would be happy to forego a “party” over leaving creatures in peace. Then again I am a person who will spend ages removing insects from firewood, move beetles, slugs and snails from paths and roads and go out of my way to help any creature in trouble. I guess it just depends where everyone’s priorities and conscience lie.
There will be venues that are actually ethical, maybe instead of one giant event a year, a number of smaller regional events would be a better way forward? Easier to find a decent venue, less environmental impact, would ultimately be accessible to a lot more people and vegan businesses and of course the ticket prices could be considerably lower, again making it more accessible to a wider demographic who maybe couldn’t afford it as it stands now. If your goal is to promote veganism then that would be a far better model, win win.
This is so silly. I'm not anti VCO. I'm anti VCO being held on this land. It's not so far from me and it IS owned by animal abusers and they WILL get money out of this event. I don't knowingly give my money to people like that when I know full well it's easily avoidable.
I had no problem with last years venue. I've also attended several (non vegan) festivals which are certainly not held on hunty/shooty farm land too, including the IOW festival, the V Festival and smaller local festivals as well. 'Non- controversial' land is not so hard to find.
I'm also fed up with the ever changing stories I've been told by the organisers. One minute there will be loud noise in the woods all night but apparently the wildlife won't mind it. The next minute the DJs weren't actually going to be in the woods but amongst a group of fake trees called 'the woods'. At one point I was told the venue was owned by a hunt sab. Ridiculous.
And the organisers wonder why this is dividing vegans?
I will add, threats and nastiness on either side are not acceptable at all in my book.
Hey Jacqui, thanks so much for your comment. And great to hear you're not anti-VCO. As David said in the article - it's important vegans (and vegan businesses) support each other wherever they can!
To answer certain points you made - one of the owners of the land is involved in animal abuse, yes! This has never been denied. David states it in his video also. However a small number of people have spread a rumour that animal abuse happens at the VCO venue or that animal abusers receive money from the event - that's what's untrue and what David references in his video. We're glad you don't give money to such people - we always make sure not to either whenever it's avoidable as you say!
Last year's venue is the same as this year's venue in that both don't host any animal abuse activities, but have owners that are involved in such. The difference with this year's venue is that it's ran by a lifelong vegetarian (albeit not vegan!) who's 5 kids are all vegan and attendees of the event - so he strongly believes in the event and it's mission - something we're very lucky to have and is extremely rare at a venue!
Unfortunately there's no escaping the fact that all large outdoor venues either host or are owned by people involved in animal abuse activities (including the examples you gave of other festivals)
There won't be any loud noise in the woods. And there's never been fake trees! I'm not sure where you heard that (t wouldn't have come from us - all the trees are 100% real). But our DJ area this year is in an open air field surrounded by trees called 'The Jungle', which isn't in the woods!
We don't wonder why there is division in our community as there's always been division sadly but it's something that together we can try to stand against that (which is something I'm sure you do!)
Hope this clears things up for you and hope to see you at the event in August! ❤️ - Admin
Hi Jacqui. Well just to be clear the venue Vegan Camp Out is held at doesn't have any 'hunting, shooting or other animal abuse' at the venue either - it's ran by a lifelong vegetarian who made sure no such activities happened on the land after he became the manager of the venue many years ago
Looking at some of the venues you named - Hylands Park has had horse riding for years. Not sure about the Isle of Wight festival venue as we haven't looked into it as we don't bother looking into venues outside of England as we wouldn't hold our event outside of England
That was just a minor point anyway, the main points we referenced are in our previous comment that hopefully gives answers to all the points from your original comment (regarding the ethics of the VCO venue, wildlife and 'fake trees' etc) - Admin
Finally getting back to this after being flabbergasted by the lack of accuracy here.
Firstly, there is a video on line where the intensive chicken farming/shooting/hunt supporting/pheasant raising OWNER of this years VCO venue openly admits it's HIS land. Of course it is, the land registry details are hardly likely to be wrong. It may be that the event is being 'run' by another company or individual but money will filter back to the landowner. That's simple common sense! Why would he allow events to be held there merely out of the kindness of his heart? Would you happily buy a pair of leather shoes from a shop if you were served by a vegetarian shop assistant?
Regarding your response to me when I pointed out there are plenty of festivals held on land owned by individuals or organisations who do not support animal farming or bloodsports: Hylands Park used to have carriage rides. They no longer do, how on earth can that be compared to the cruelty the owner of this year's venue supports anyway - for goodness sake! And er... the Isle of Wight Festival is very much held in England.
I don't consider anyone who can conveniently turn a blind eye to what this year's landowner gets up to to be a vegan. They are plant based.
Hi Jacquie, no worries on the late reply. However there's certainly no deliberate lack of accuracy here, everything I wrote was 100% true.
My comment to you was about the person who runs/manages the venue, he is the lifelong vegetarian. We're very aware there is a landowner of the venue who is involved in such activities, but no they do not receive any of our money due to the structure of how our arrangement with them works. We even mentioned both of these points in our statement we released! instagram.com/vegancampout/p/DEK-toliQs6
No we wouldn't buy a pair of leather shoes no matter who served them, but your analogy is flawed here, because a non-vegan product isn't being sold/served here by a vegan. VCO is a vegan product, being served by a vegan organisation. The analogy that works here is to ask 'would you buy a vegan meal in a vegan restaurant held in a venue who's landlord is involved in animal abuse'. And to that I'd answer, yes. We all do. 99% of vegans go to vegan festivals, music festivals, weddings, vegan restaurants, animal sanctuaries etc that are held on land owned by people involved in animal farming/hunting.
Hylands Park is owned by the local council who own a bunch of farmland with cows. They also give some of their plants to animal feed. There are also comments online saying it also has animal grazing (but that may not be the case).
Isle of Wight might technically be a county of England, but it is it's own island seperate to mainland England and so we wouldn't ever host a festival there.
And then lastly - tens of thousands of vegans come to our events and the majority of the biggest and most beloved animal rights organisations and vegan businesses all support and attend VCO. They are all vegan, not merely plant based. I'd imagine the reason they 'turn a blind eye' is the same reason I mentioned to you earlier - that 99% of vegans support and attend vegan events, music festivals, weddings, vegan restaurants and animal sanctuaries where the landowners of the venues they hire are involved in animal activities we as vegans don't agree with.
I keep seeing replies from VCO here and elsewhere repeatedly claiming there is no hunting or shooting on the land, yet the sabs are crystal clear - they say they have been monitoring the site repeatedly and have found multiple pheasant pens - some with young birds, some with adult pheasants ready to be released and shot - and a Larsen trap containing a crow that was left in there to die. That's very specific. Are you saying these are lies that the sabs are deliberately making up, in order to destroy a genuine vegan event simply because they were temporarily banned from the event?
No they are owned by the same landowner. I said them fields are not from the VCO venue land, which is what was claimed and sadly believed by a small group of people. The vast majority of UK land is owned by animal farmers. This is the case for basically every music festival vegans attend. The difference is with VCO is it's a fully vegan event and owned by vegans, unlike any music festival. There is no escaping who owns the land all events rent from but we take careful steps to make sure we're only at venues that don't host animal abuse, which limits to us a very small pool of venues who are the venues we choose from each year! - Admin
To be honest, I think you are being a little disingenuous here. They are on neighbouring fields owned by the same landowner - that sounds to me like they are on the same land. Let's not split hairs. I don't think anybody thought the pheasant pens were going to be among the tents or in one of the backstage areas. To say they are not on the venue itself just sounds slippery. There is no escaping the fact that money from the festival is going to an unethical landowner who kills wildlife and rears pheasants for shooting.
Now, you can argue that it is justified because it is encouraging him to diversify into vegan business and perhaps drop the shooting in future, but what I object to is all this slippery wordplay and the attempts to make concerned animal rights activists look like liars, by implying they are mistaken about the shooting or that they have got the wrong land.
That needs to stop.
People care passionately about this issue - I think their concerns are valid and need to be addressed honestly and transparently, not brushed off as people who've got it all wrong, have an axe to grind or don't even know where the festival venue is.
You state that "The vast majority of UK land is owned by animal farmers. This is the case for basically every music festival vegans attend. The difference is with VCO is it's a fully vegan event". Yes, the difference is that VCO is a fully vegan event, and that is why it needs to be fully accountable to the vegan community.
Hi thanks for your reply! It's never been denied that there are landowners of the VCO venue that own other parts of land that is used for animal abuse. This has been the case with all our previous venues, there is no difference for 2025. What people have wrongly said is that there is animal abuse at the VCO venue itself, which is not the case. The venue that is Bygrave Woods is a very specific bit of land, with distinct borders, with it's own licence, ran by a specific events management company and used for specific things. But no that's not true, there's been many people saying animals are literally killed on the VCO land where VCO/events take place and that they would never step foot on 'blood soaked' land etc, so that's precisely what people have been claiming. You may not, but it has been reported by many in that way. Another example of misinformation is that some people have said chicken farming happens at the VCO venue, whereas the nearest chicken farming that has anything to do with any of the landowners is 4.5 miles away in a completely different town. It's certainly not our intention to label animal rights activists as 'liars', there are thousands of activists who support our event/don't spread misinformation, our our team has many activists also but that doesn't mean activists can't be wrong about things. Misinformation is a problem in every community, because it's a human problem.
As mentioned before, none of our rent money goes to the landowners. Just to be clear though - there wouldn't be any issue with this if it was the case, as that is normally the case for all festivals and vegans give money to animal farmers in a whole variety of ways, and like you said there are arguments for the diversification, we just happen to be in a particular situation where that isn't the case which is unique as the rent money has always gone to the landowners in previous venues we've been at. Again, it wasn't that we were telling people the landowner doesn't benefit at all from festivals being held there, of course he does, but rather it was that people were wrongly saying our rent money goes to him or worse that we are 'funding animal abuse', both of which are not the case and why we had to come out and say actually no, our rent money doesn't go to him and actually we have it in writing that 100% of the money we pay the venue management company is reinvested back into the venue itself for renovations. I'm sure you can agree there is a huge difference financially in a set up where a landowner receives 100% of the rent money (the case with the majority of venues) and a situation like ours where 100% of the rent money from ours (and other festivals held there also) is reinvested back into the venue due to their plans for the venue over the coming years. There's obviously a difference between them two set ups, so that's why we explained that to people based on misinformation that had been told.
I agree with you that concerns are valid and should be addressed honestly and transparently. We've put out many statements, interviews, Q&A's, info cards etc over the years (when no other vegan event or animal sanctuary who rent their land from animal farmers ever has). So by definition, we've been extremely transparent in comparison to almost any vegan business on this matter about the actions of people outside of our business. The overwhelming feedback from our audience tell us that we shouldn't be so transparent or address such matters through polling we've done - with most citing that it's a buzzkill, promotes/highlights the misinformation and/or that it's an unfair standard that only we have been held to, but yet we've still continued to post statements most years of VCO to address that minority of people who have had concerns or believed the misinformation that has been shared.
As for your last statement about VCO is a fully vegan event and therefore should be fully accountable, well as stated previously a) we have been but b) there are dozens upon dozens of fully vegan businesses (events, sanctuaries, restaurants etc) who hire their land from animal farmers, who none have ever put out any statement about doing so. This is what I mean when people speak about 'an unrealistic standard that only VCO is held to'. Nor should they by the way, we're glad they haven't had to, neither running a business or the definition of veganism has anything to do with the actions of the landlords of said businesses. Veganism is about what we BUY, not who sells the things we buy and certainly not about the landlord's actions of the sellers of the things we buy. If it was, we either wouldn't be able to do much at all as vegans, or almost every single vegan business would have to constantly be putting out information about the actions of everyone in their supply chain in the name of 'transparency' (of which the overwhelming majority are not vegan) which would cause customers of vegan businesses to get tired/bored of it very quickly, which has been the overwhelming feedback from our audience too for such reasons - Admin
Thank you for writing this article. I wish for unity and harmony for the vegan movement in all ways. May our differences not slow our progress in helping animals.
This is brilliant. I have been a speaker at the Vegan Campout twice and worked at a stall there several other times - it is an absolutely brilliant event that does so, so much for our cause. Jordan and Ellis are lovely people. This vitriol and hate towards them and what they have created makes me so sad. You say it perfectly: "The fastest way to a vegan future is to give people what they want, but vegan." And we're lucky to have businesses like VCO doing just that.
Purity politics is antithetical to movement building. In-fighting is the death of more animals.
David, as in your previous piece about VCO, you make some interesting and valid points regarding the challenges of being vegan in a non-vegan world. I agree with you that aiming for purism may be counter to the vegan cause.
I know only a little about the "drama" surrounding VCO that you refer to and I have no interest in knowing more. Under no circumstances is it okay to use the kind of language that you have illustrated in the screenshots here. I am aware that there is a lot of toxicity behind the scenes, which is both unfortunate and very sad.
Having said this, I also find your piece to be somewhat accusatory and divisive. To place people who have issues with VCO into three categories is demeaning to those who have read the facts and made up their own minds. I have never been to VCO and don't intend to, but the event raises some serious concerns about what attendees are supporting with regard to farming and bloodsports, as well as wildlife disturbance. Which category of people who have concerns about VCO does that put me in? I am not "deeply troubled" or "radical", and I do not concur with your assumption that I am one of the 'other' group of vegans who are "genuinely misinformed and have been tricked into removing support for the event by the first two groups".
I first heard about the issues of concern when I read Hertfordshire Hunt Saboteurs' post on the subject (https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1BoDe9MjzV/). There was nothing radical about this post and the people who wrote it were not deeply disturbed. They stated facts and were sharing those facts out of genuine concern and care about the event, those planning to attend, and of course the animals being exploited by the hosts. There is nothing in their post that could possibly place them in your first two groups: the "deeply troubled" and the "radicals". Therefore, I believe I must fall into a fourth group of people that you have missed: those that made up their minds about this event based on the facts that were presented to them in good faith.
Aside from the farming and bloodsports issues that HHS informed us about, I later learned that loud music will be played in the woodland at this event. This alone would be enough to make me want to boycott the event. In my opinion, it's not acceptable to disturb wildlife so that people can enjoy a party. This goes wholly against my vegan values.
I am also uncomfortable that you have used this platform to single out members of the Hunt Saboteurs Association (HSA) as having been "a core part of the drama and misinformation around this event". That may be true, but I think you need to be careful not to tarnish the reputation of the HSA and of hunt sabs in general, not least because you have chosen to shorten the HSA to "Hunt Saboteurs", and later "Hunt Sabs". This is ambiguous as some may believe you are referring to "hunt sabs" rather than to the Association itself. Regardless of who you are referring to, stating that "the Hunt Sabs and the radical types within tend to hold anarchistic, anti-capitalist views" is a sweeping statement to say the least.
Another issue that has put me off VCO (as if I needed more reason) is the bombardment of private messages I received from Jordan after I posted comments on your previous post about VCO. Jordan used what I consider to be extreme and unnecessary language, sent me a friend request and started tagging me in posts without even checking with me first that it would be okay. This was not okay and certainly not professional.
I do wonder whether your piece will unfortunately serve to stir things up more rather than help to make the peace and promote the vegan cause. VCO and the "drama" surrounding the event had not been on my mind and probably not on the mind of many of the people I will share your piece with.
Hey Shelagh! Thanks so much for your comment. Just to answer a few things you said -
To put your mind at ease - Vegan Camp Out (our our attendees) have never supported farming or bloodsports in all the years of being an event. This is something very important to us - our event is quite the opposite of supporting such things! (We have a post on social media talking about all the stats of positive things done for animals through the event)
The Facebook post you linked/referenced is not part of the VCO venue land. It's not radical no, just misinformed/incorrect! We did release a statement to let everyone know this (I'm not sure if you saw it!)
We appreciate your concern for wildlife also, ut there is no more of a wildlife disturbance at this year's VCO than previous years. No loud music will be played in the woodlands either. This comes from a misunderstanding given we did originally call it "woodland DJ sets" back 8 months ago when we first announced the 2025 details in August, before the event properly launched later in November, due to there simply being some trees there, but we since put out a clarification on that also - that it's in an open air section of the arena surrounded by trees - but away from the woodland!
Thanks for taking the time to read our reply and hope to see you at the event one year! ❤️ - Admin
Unfortunately, in trying to smooth things over, you might very well have made things worse. Not everyone who objects to hunting is “associated with the Hunt Sabs Association “. Much of the criticism you received concerning hunting on the land will have come from people who are not sabs and not in the HSA. However, you have chosen to vilify the HSA because you have assumed this is the case. I am defending the HSA not because I am in it, but because my organisation - Action Against Foxhunting (a peaceful campaign group) - has the deepest regard for the HSA and they should not be used as scapegoats for the criticism you’ve received concerning hunting. Just because the HSA is the only anti hunt group you’ve heard of doesn’t mean you should pick on them in this way. Pip Donovan, Chair of AAF.
Am amazed that you've reduced anyone who has spoken out against VCO's choice of venue into 3 oversimplified and frankly insulting categories. You've missed out an entire group of people who at their core put animals’ welfare first and foremost, and do not want to contribute to funds reaching a landowner who is involved in blasting innocent birds from the sky or intensively farming chickens, irrespective of whether it happens on that particular field or not, it still benefits them. Where do you draw the line exactly? Would you think it appropriate to approach say the Chargot or Badminton Estates to host a vegan event? It absolutely IS a “moral thing” and one you seem to be sidestepping by posting up derogatory comments made by a handful of people (who do not represent the majority who have questioned your ethics) in an attempt to illicit an emotional response deflecting away from the main issue. It’s extremely manipulative.
I have been vegan for nearly 20 years, veggie for a few years before that, long before it was “easy” or “trendy” and have supported the little ethical vegan businesses the whole time. Obviously there are compromises, for instance you can’t easily get away from having to use shops that sell non vegan products in general, but I will not buy vegan products (food or otherwise) made by meat, dairy, or animal testing companies (Unilever, P&G, etc), and as soon as a vegan brand is swallowed up by one of those then I will boycott, as these companies take market share away from the ethical producers. I also would not touch vegan items from the likes of McDonalds or KFC.
As for the disturbance to the wildlife, you do realise that animals are not confined to woods? They will have territories that cover the majority of the countryside, that is of course if the landowner hasn’t killed them all already. They won’t understand what all the noise and movement is about, it will be stressful and may cause them to forage into other territories where they could get into fights. Frankly I would be happy to forego a “party” over leaving creatures in peace. Then again I am a person who will spend ages removing insects from firewood, move beetles, slugs and snails from paths and roads and go out of my way to help any creature in trouble. I guess it just depends where everyone’s priorities and conscience lie.
There will be venues that are actually ethical, maybe instead of one giant event a year, a number of smaller regional events would be a better way forward? Easier to find a decent venue, less environmental impact, would ultimately be accessible to a lot more people and vegan businesses and of course the ticket prices could be considerably lower, again making it more accessible to a wider demographic who maybe couldn’t afford it as it stands now. If your goal is to promote veganism then that would be a far better model, win win.
This is so silly. I'm not anti VCO. I'm anti VCO being held on this land. It's not so far from me and it IS owned by animal abusers and they WILL get money out of this event. I don't knowingly give my money to people like that when I know full well it's easily avoidable.
I had no problem with last years venue. I've also attended several (non vegan) festivals which are certainly not held on hunty/shooty farm land too, including the IOW festival, the V Festival and smaller local festivals as well. 'Non- controversial' land is not so hard to find.
I'm also fed up with the ever changing stories I've been told by the organisers. One minute there will be loud noise in the woods all night but apparently the wildlife won't mind it. The next minute the DJs weren't actually going to be in the woods but amongst a group of fake trees called 'the woods'. At one point I was told the venue was owned by a hunt sab. Ridiculous.
And the organisers wonder why this is dividing vegans?
I will add, threats and nastiness on either side are not acceptable at all in my book.
Hey Jacqui, thanks so much for your comment. And great to hear you're not anti-VCO. As David said in the article - it's important vegans (and vegan businesses) support each other wherever they can!
To answer certain points you made - one of the owners of the land is involved in animal abuse, yes! This has never been denied. David states it in his video also. However a small number of people have spread a rumour that animal abuse happens at the VCO venue or that animal abusers receive money from the event - that's what's untrue and what David references in his video. We're glad you don't give money to such people - we always make sure not to either whenever it's avoidable as you say!
Last year's venue is the same as this year's venue in that both don't host any animal abuse activities, but have owners that are involved in such. The difference with this year's venue is that it's ran by a lifelong vegetarian (albeit not vegan!) who's 5 kids are all vegan and attendees of the event - so he strongly believes in the event and it's mission - something we're very lucky to have and is extremely rare at a venue!
Unfortunately there's no escaping the fact that all large outdoor venues either host or are owned by people involved in animal abuse activities (including the examples you gave of other festivals)
There won't be any loud noise in the woods. And there's never been fake trees! I'm not sure where you heard that (t wouldn't have come from us - all the trees are 100% real). But our DJ area this year is in an open air field surrounded by trees called 'The Jungle', which isn't in the woods!
We don't wonder why there is division in our community as there's always been division sadly but it's something that together we can try to stand against that (which is something I'm sure you do!)
Hope this clears things up for you and hope to see you at the event in August! ❤️ - Admin
Would you give me proof of hunting, shooting or other animal abuse at the large venues Hylands Park or Seaclose Park please?
Hi Jacqui. Well just to be clear the venue Vegan Camp Out is held at doesn't have any 'hunting, shooting or other animal abuse' at the venue either - it's ran by a lifelong vegetarian who made sure no such activities happened on the land after he became the manager of the venue many years ago
Looking at some of the venues you named - Hylands Park has had horse riding for years. Not sure about the Isle of Wight festival venue as we haven't looked into it as we don't bother looking into venues outside of England as we wouldn't hold our event outside of England
That was just a minor point anyway, the main points we referenced are in our previous comment that hopefully gives answers to all the points from your original comment (regarding the ethics of the VCO venue, wildlife and 'fake trees' etc) - Admin
Finally getting back to this after being flabbergasted by the lack of accuracy here.
Firstly, there is a video on line where the intensive chicken farming/shooting/hunt supporting/pheasant raising OWNER of this years VCO venue openly admits it's HIS land. Of course it is, the land registry details are hardly likely to be wrong. It may be that the event is being 'run' by another company or individual but money will filter back to the landowner. That's simple common sense! Why would he allow events to be held there merely out of the kindness of his heart? Would you happily buy a pair of leather shoes from a shop if you were served by a vegetarian shop assistant?
Regarding your response to me when I pointed out there are plenty of festivals held on land owned by individuals or organisations who do not support animal farming or bloodsports: Hylands Park used to have carriage rides. They no longer do, how on earth can that be compared to the cruelty the owner of this year's venue supports anyway - for goodness sake! And er... the Isle of Wight Festival is very much held in England.
I don't consider anyone who can conveniently turn a blind eye to what this year's landowner gets up to to be a vegan. They are plant based.
Hi Jacquie, no worries on the late reply. However there's certainly no deliberate lack of accuracy here, everything I wrote was 100% true.
My comment to you was about the person who runs/manages the venue, he is the lifelong vegetarian. We're very aware there is a landowner of the venue who is involved in such activities, but no they do not receive any of our money due to the structure of how our arrangement with them works. We even mentioned both of these points in our statement we released! instagram.com/vegancampout/p/DEK-toliQs6
No we wouldn't buy a pair of leather shoes no matter who served them, but your analogy is flawed here, because a non-vegan product isn't being sold/served here by a vegan. VCO is a vegan product, being served by a vegan organisation. The analogy that works here is to ask 'would you buy a vegan meal in a vegan restaurant held in a venue who's landlord is involved in animal abuse'. And to that I'd answer, yes. We all do. 99% of vegans go to vegan festivals, music festivals, weddings, vegan restaurants, animal sanctuaries etc that are held on land owned by people involved in animal farming/hunting.
Hylands Park is owned by the local council who own a bunch of farmland with cows. They also give some of their plants to animal feed. There are also comments online saying it also has animal grazing (but that may not be the case).
Isle of Wight might technically be a county of England, but it is it's own island seperate to mainland England and so we wouldn't ever host a festival there.
And then lastly - tens of thousands of vegans come to our events and the majority of the biggest and most beloved animal rights organisations and vegan businesses all support and attend VCO. They are all vegan, not merely plant based. I'd imagine the reason they 'turn a blind eye' is the same reason I mentioned to you earlier - that 99% of vegans support and attend vegan events, music festivals, weddings, vegan restaurants and animal sanctuaries where the landowners of the venues they hire are involved in animal activities we as vegans don't agree with.
You must be joking. Vegans attacking vegans? Never ever ever happen.
🤪
I keep seeing replies from VCO here and elsewhere repeatedly claiming there is no hunting or shooting on the land, yet the sabs are crystal clear - they say they have been monitoring the site repeatedly and have found multiple pheasant pens - some with young birds, some with adult pheasants ready to be released and shot - and a Larsen trap containing a crow that was left in there to die. That's very specific. Are you saying these are lies that the sabs are deliberately making up, in order to destroy a genuine vegan event simply because they were temporarily banned from the event?
Hi there! VCO here. The photos/videos released by the Sabs are not from the VCO venue, they are on neighbouring fields about a mile away - Admin
So those fields belong to a different landowner?
No they are owned by the same landowner. I said them fields are not from the VCO venue land, which is what was claimed and sadly believed by a small group of people. The vast majority of UK land is owned by animal farmers. This is the case for basically every music festival vegans attend. The difference is with VCO is it's a fully vegan event and owned by vegans, unlike any music festival. There is no escaping who owns the land all events rent from but we take careful steps to make sure we're only at venues that don't host animal abuse, which limits to us a very small pool of venues who are the venues we choose from each year! - Admin
To be honest, I think you are being a little disingenuous here. They are on neighbouring fields owned by the same landowner - that sounds to me like they are on the same land. Let's not split hairs. I don't think anybody thought the pheasant pens were going to be among the tents or in one of the backstage areas. To say they are not on the venue itself just sounds slippery. There is no escaping the fact that money from the festival is going to an unethical landowner who kills wildlife and rears pheasants for shooting.
Now, you can argue that it is justified because it is encouraging him to diversify into vegan business and perhaps drop the shooting in future, but what I object to is all this slippery wordplay and the attempts to make concerned animal rights activists look like liars, by implying they are mistaken about the shooting or that they have got the wrong land.
That needs to stop.
People care passionately about this issue - I think their concerns are valid and need to be addressed honestly and transparently, not brushed off as people who've got it all wrong, have an axe to grind or don't even know where the festival venue is.
You state that "The vast majority of UK land is owned by animal farmers. This is the case for basically every music festival vegans attend. The difference is with VCO is it's a fully vegan event". Yes, the difference is that VCO is a fully vegan event, and that is why it needs to be fully accountable to the vegan community.
Hi thanks for your reply! It's never been denied that there are landowners of the VCO venue that own other parts of land that is used for animal abuse. This has been the case with all our previous venues, there is no difference for 2025. What people have wrongly said is that there is animal abuse at the VCO venue itself, which is not the case. The venue that is Bygrave Woods is a very specific bit of land, with distinct borders, with it's own licence, ran by a specific events management company and used for specific things. But no that's not true, there's been many people saying animals are literally killed on the VCO land where VCO/events take place and that they would never step foot on 'blood soaked' land etc, so that's precisely what people have been claiming. You may not, but it has been reported by many in that way. Another example of misinformation is that some people have said chicken farming happens at the VCO venue, whereas the nearest chicken farming that has anything to do with any of the landowners is 4.5 miles away in a completely different town. It's certainly not our intention to label animal rights activists as 'liars', there are thousands of activists who support our event/don't spread misinformation, our our team has many activists also but that doesn't mean activists can't be wrong about things. Misinformation is a problem in every community, because it's a human problem.
As mentioned before, none of our rent money goes to the landowners. Just to be clear though - there wouldn't be any issue with this if it was the case, as that is normally the case for all festivals and vegans give money to animal farmers in a whole variety of ways, and like you said there are arguments for the diversification, we just happen to be in a particular situation where that isn't the case which is unique as the rent money has always gone to the landowners in previous venues we've been at. Again, it wasn't that we were telling people the landowner doesn't benefit at all from festivals being held there, of course he does, but rather it was that people were wrongly saying our rent money goes to him or worse that we are 'funding animal abuse', both of which are not the case and why we had to come out and say actually no, our rent money doesn't go to him and actually we have it in writing that 100% of the money we pay the venue management company is reinvested back into the venue itself for renovations. I'm sure you can agree there is a huge difference financially in a set up where a landowner receives 100% of the rent money (the case with the majority of venues) and a situation like ours where 100% of the rent money from ours (and other festivals held there also) is reinvested back into the venue due to their plans for the venue over the coming years. There's obviously a difference between them two set ups, so that's why we explained that to people based on misinformation that had been told.
I agree with you that concerns are valid and should be addressed honestly and transparently. We've put out many statements, interviews, Q&A's, info cards etc over the years (when no other vegan event or animal sanctuary who rent their land from animal farmers ever has). So by definition, we've been extremely transparent in comparison to almost any vegan business on this matter about the actions of people outside of our business. The overwhelming feedback from our audience tell us that we shouldn't be so transparent or address such matters through polling we've done - with most citing that it's a buzzkill, promotes/highlights the misinformation and/or that it's an unfair standard that only we have been held to, but yet we've still continued to post statements most years of VCO to address that minority of people who have had concerns or believed the misinformation that has been shared.
As for your last statement about VCO is a fully vegan event and therefore should be fully accountable, well as stated previously a) we have been but b) there are dozens upon dozens of fully vegan businesses (events, sanctuaries, restaurants etc) who hire their land from animal farmers, who none have ever put out any statement about doing so. This is what I mean when people speak about 'an unrealistic standard that only VCO is held to'. Nor should they by the way, we're glad they haven't had to, neither running a business or the definition of veganism has anything to do with the actions of the landlords of said businesses. Veganism is about what we BUY, not who sells the things we buy and certainly not about the landlord's actions of the sellers of the things we buy. If it was, we either wouldn't be able to do much at all as vegans, or almost every single vegan business would have to constantly be putting out information about the actions of everyone in their supply chain in the name of 'transparency' (of which the overwhelming majority are not vegan) which would cause customers of vegan businesses to get tired/bored of it very quickly, which has been the overwhelming feedback from our audience too for such reasons - Admin
Would you give me proof of hunting, shooting or factory farming at Hylands Park or Seaclose park please?