Vegan Playground is a weekly vegan night market in Hollywood that offers food trucks, live music, and a few sustainable, local vendors. Over 20 vendors set up shop outside of Plant Power Fast Food, a vegan restaurant that lets the market take over its parking lot.
Diana Colmenar, founder of Vegan Playground, is a longtime vegan and said she always loved teaching people about a vegan lifestyle and showing how easy it can be.
“We want to create a space where people who’ve never had vegan food can learn how delicious it is,” said Colmenar. “I also want to show vegans how many options we really have.”
The wide variety of vendors included cookies, soft serve and tacos. Colmenar ensures a variety as the event can open people’s eyes to all of the options when choosing a vegan lifestyle.
“My husband is from Mexico and I lived there with him for a while despite the lack of vegan food,” said JoJo Sevilla, owner of Tierra Taco. “When we got back to the states I was inspired to bring amazing Mexican recipes with me, but I wanted to make them completely plant based.”
Discovery is not limited to food. The night market offers multiple live musical performances and booths that sell sustainable products like clothes and jewelry. Colmenar said these additions were created later on, as the vegan lifestyle became more entwined with sustainable living.
Katherine Marlon, a vegan and first-time patron of the market, was at first disappointed by the size. Marlon is from Hollywood and has been to a few other vegan food markets in the LA area and most were “much larger” but she had not seen “cute little products” at any of the other markets.
“I found this place on Instagram and was definitely not expecting all of the cute shops and activities,” said Marlon. “It’s small, but there’s a good selection of stuff here.”
While the market may be small in size, it is not small in following. The Vegan Playground can be found on Instagram, @veganplayground, and its account has amassed over 100k followers. This weekly night market is offered Mondays from 5-9 p.m. at Plant Power Fast Food.
Sam Maddocks
Lineup of vendors set to be at the Vegan Playground.