CONCORD — Vegan Vibe Music Series is back in Concord with new genres of music, a basketball tournament in Charlotte and young, local entrepreneurs.
The series kicked off its fourth year May 15 at Cabarrus Brewing Co. and will continue to be there every other Sunday through August 7.
Vegan Vibe founders and siblings Morathi Howie and Latise Howie talked about the new things that are in store for the series this year.
The new
The first change-up is the music genres. The series will now include house music and collective soul music
“The house music genre is so hot right now. It has that high beat that people love, and we felt like we had to add it,” Morathi said.
There will still be the series’ regular line up of hip-hop, rhythm and blues, and African-based music.
But while music is half of what makes up the series, the other half is the food and it is popular. Every year there are long lines. But this new change-up may help with that
People are also reading…
Vegan Connect is a food delivery app, and it will be available for those attending the event. Latise explained how the app will cut down down on lines.
“The food vendor trucks, an issue we usually have is, the lines are long,” she said. “So Vegan Vibe will have a tent at the events, and they will have delivery runners. People can place their orders with Vegan Connect app and then go and enjoy other vendors while they wait for their food. They’ll get a text message when the order is ready.”
The last addition to the series is an Ally Hoops Jam in Uptown Charlotte July 22-24
“This will be the largest plant-based event that Charlotte will have seen,” Latise said.
The event will include a 3-on-3-basketball tournament featuring 20-30 teams. There will also be live entertainment and the Vegan Vibe food vendors. The three-day event will culminate in a final basketball tournament July 24.
Kristi Williamson, chief commercial officer for Vegan Vibe Music Series explained how the Ally Hoops Jam fits into the Vegan Vibe mission.
“We felt like it would give us an opportunity to tap into the physical health and wellness that is part of our mission,” Williamson said.
She explained that this is just one of the first endeavors they will be making to further the spread of physical wellness in their work. They are also on working to put together a 5k in the future.
The growth
But there are more initiatives that the Vegan Vibe group want to accomplish, but they needed a better way to accomplish them. That’s why they formed their 501c3 Vegan Love Culture Foundation. Williamson explained that the foundation has been in the works since 2018, but is just now getting ready to launch.
Through the foundation, they are looking to expand their reach to something bigger than the music series.
“With Vegan Love Culture Foundation, that year-round programming that we will be able to offer to the community is something that is integral to our mission and our vision that we have always had for Vegan Vibe Music Series. But being able to do it in the capacity of a foundation, really expands the opportunities for us to educate and give back to the community,” she said.
They plan to hold community potlucks, cooking classes and expand their investment in young entrepreneurs.
Vegan Vibe works with A.C.E. Academy Charter School in Harrisburg to support their young moguls program. This year the school’s young moguls will have their own tent. But this isn’t the first time the vendor list has included younger people
In fact, the series vendor list has already featured young business owners like Layla Quick, founder of OMG Lemonade. Quick was a teenager when she started her company. OMG Lemonade has been a vendor with Vegan Vibe since day one.
Vegan Vibe also features Kennedi Fludd who was just 16 when she started her henna art business. Now at 18, Fludd is bringing her business, Henna By Kennedi, once again to the series.
The future
Latise said that Vegan Vibe has received requests to expand its location as well and go outside of the Concord and Charlotte area.
“We know that Concord will always be our home. But we get so many requests, every single day almost, from different areas. We have so many people pulling at us for where we should take the event,” Latise said.
“It is the biggest blessing that we have experienced. We are extremely humbled to give back to the community we grew up in and to expand the mission we have and take it places. We have seen this project from when it was just an idea. We have put the work behind it to make this event successful and to make sure it touches the community.”
While Vegan Vibe is looking to branch out, there are some local events coming up this fall like Vegan Vibe After Dark, which will also be at Cabarrus Brewing Co.
For those interested in being a vendor at one of Vegan Vibes Music Series events, sign up here: https://veganvibemusicseries.square.site/.
The Vegan Vibe Music Series will take place:
- June 12 at Cabarrus Brewing Co.
- JUe 26 at Cabarrus Brewing Co.
- JUly 10 at Cabarrus Brewing Co.
- July 31 at Cabarrus Brewing Co.
- July 22-24 Taste of Charlotte Edition
- August 7 at Cabarrus Brewing Co.
The vendors who will be at series are:
- Mike’s Vegan Cookout
- Mogogo’s Eatery
- Henna By Kennedi
- Vegan Rich
- A Taste of Vegan Soul
- Positive Outlook Grooming
- Queen City Tea Shop
- OMG Lemonade
- Sweet Imalda’s Bakery
- Queen City Italian Ice
- Ve-go
- Stairway to Veggin
- Physician In the Kitchen
- Dojo Fresh NC
- Natty Selections
- Juice DuPressy
- The Wicked Vegan
- Epic Vegan
- Reed’s Holistic Harvest
- Nail Queen
- New Age Herbs
- Vegan Love Culture Herbs
- KiKaboni Seamoss
- Grown Fit Apparel
- Iname Apparel
- Gata Pit Apparel
- Nourish Juice
- The Necessities Company
- So Pressed Detox
- Changing Hearts Farms
- J9 Fit Apparel
- Blu Tee Spoon
- Vees Pix
- Sweet Pauline’s Lemonade
- Viva Raw
- Young Moguls from ACE Academy Charter School
- CJ’s Ice Cream
- Raykinsense Oils
- CLT Vegan Eats
- Vegan House Shack
- Exposed Vegan
- Peace of Soul