If there’s one thing that almost all vegans love, it’s meeting up with other vegans for a chat, a meal or just a friendly reprieve from the non-vegan world at large. In this article we’ll touch briefly on various types of meetups and the websites available to organise them.

Potlucks, meals and action groups

There are three types of meetups that feature most commonly in the vegan world: potlucks, restaurant gatherings, and activism actions.

We will touch on each of these three meetup types and provide some suggestions as to potential meetups that may be less common but equally interesting or rewarding.

Potluck Meetups

At a potluck, every participant brings a dish that they’ve either made themselves (preferable) or have purchased.

The setting for a potluck can be as varied as the dishes themselves, but typically they are held either at a private residence or in a quiet area of a city park. When at a private residence, it’s important to set an attendance capacity to ensure the host is not overwhelmed with attendees or runs out of dishes and cutlery.

When it comes to the park potlucks, there’s no need to set an attendance cap, but it is helpful to be precise when advising the exact location. Bringing a balloon or sign can be beneficial to ensure that your attendees find you quickly.

Restaurant Meetups

Organising restaurant meetups is another way to bring vegans together and if your city is blessed enough to have many of them, it’s a good idea to rotate through them all before deciding on which ones to return to.

Make sure, when planning a meetup at a restaurant, that you provide potential attendees with as much detail as possible about the place you’ve chosen, and include directions by public transit.

Check well in advance with the restaurant to ensure that they’re open on the night and can handle a reservation for your group size — it’s also worth checking if they would consider a special fixed menu/fixed price, which can make things easier and quicker on the day of the meetup.

Activism Meetups

You may want to organise a meetup for an activist action, such as a march or to canvass your local area for a cause. This doesn’t need to be for your own action — many successful meetups have been arranged on behalf of an already existing event.

As with the park meetups, it’s crucial to be specific about the meeting point to ensure the attendees find one another. Alternatively, meet at a different location prior to the event and then travel together — this ensures everybody finds their way and gives your attendees a chance to converse prior to the event.

Other meetup options

While the three meetup types above are arguably the most popular, changing the style of the event can keep things interesting and fresh.

So, if you normally organise potlucks in the park, instead, plan a hike to a local peak and have your (well-earned) picnic at the top. Other sporty meetups or film screenings could also make an enjoyable event.

Popular meetup websites

There are, of course, many websites that can be used to facilitate your meetup; below we will cover two of the most popular:

meetup.com

Meetup, as its name suggests, is probably the most well-known websites for arranging a get together. Activities available in most major cities include food, sports, meditation, or really any other hobby that one might have.

Once a group has been formed, meetups can be scheduled as one-off events or you can also have a recurring gathering (for example, you could set it to auto-post a low-key vegan brunch on the last Sunday of every month).

One thing to be aware of is that meetup.com does charge a fee to create your group; if desired the costs can be shared amongst members that attend the events.

couchsurfing.com

Another website to post vegan meetups is couchsurfing.com — unlike Meetup posting on this site is free of charge.

Another advantage of posting here is that you will get a chance to meet vegan travellers who may be in your city for only a few days and, therefore, you may learn about the vegan community in other cities/countries.

Let’s meet soon!

Whichever style of event you choose, meeting up with other like-minded people is an effective way to make new connections in, and outside of, your community.

Hopefully, these tips will provide some valuable assistance in arranging a vegan meetup in your city very soon!

Do you have any ideas for vegan meetups that we didn’t mention? Let us know in the comments.

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