With restaurants, frozen food aisles, cookbooks and more all catering more often to the plant-based lifestyle, it was only a matter of time before more plant-based festivals found their way to the scene. Plantopia is a plant-based festival that has big plans to tour the country starting this spring.

The family-friendly, immersive experience will feature the newest and coolest food, beverage, and lifestyle brands on the market for all to explore and sample. From Cannonball Productions, the event production company behind Seltzerland, a hard seltzer festival that’s hosted on golf courses around the country.

Meat-eaters, vegans, and their flexitarian friends can all dive into this plant-based utopia filled with a wide variety of food samples at the Grand Tasting Village, dozens of beverages at the Drinkery, entertaining competitions on the Main Stage, all complemented by live music and a DJ, Instagrammable photo opportunities, interactive games and activities inside the Kids Zone, local shopping at the Eco-Marketplace, and more.

"As the future of food is evolving, we created Plantopia to showcase the most innovative plant-based products," said Cannonball Productions Founder and CEO Kate Levenstien. "Gone are the days of the crunchy, granola stereotypes that come with plant-based lifestyles. We're bringing the party to the green side."

The inaugural 2023 tour will kick off in downtown San Diego on Saturday, April 1st before continuing to Jersey City on April 22nd just in Earth Day, with more locations and dates to come. Starting at $19, tickets are available in four different tiers: Limited Access, General Access, Early Access, and Premier Access.

As a community forward festival, Plantopia’s focus is to give back to underserved communities. Through Forage Forward, a portion of proceeds from all Plantopia events will be donated to local and national non-profit organizations dedicated to supporting food education and providing plant-based foods to those who combat food insecurity.

I got the chance to chat with Levenstien about the concept behind Plantopia and what’s to come. Here’s how it went.

Kate Levenstien: In 2020, I decided to eat less meat, but when I went to the grocery store I was so overwhelmed by the amount of plant-based options that I didn’t know where to begin. The majority of the population defines themselves as flexitarian, which is ranked #2 as the best diet overall (according to U.S. News & World Report), but it can become intimidating when shopping at the grocery store, so we want to introduce them to the world of all things plant-based and take the guesswork out of the equation to make it easier to commit.

KL: Plantopia will take place in Chicago, San Diego, Los Angeles and Jersey City this year.

KL: I hope that people realize how easy it is to supplement different alternatives and incorporate them into their routine without sacrificing anything. The flexitarian diet is accepted and widely encouraged, and we want to show how easy it is to introduce little changes into your lifestyle.

KL: The event will be filled with live music, local shopping at an Eco-Marketplace, a main stage hot sauce competition, no-and-low alcohol samplings, including mocktails, beer and wine. There will also be a kid-zone to make this an event perfect for everyone, including families.

KL: I’m really excited about Forager Project. They’re one of the best in the market with incredible options, clean ingredients, and delicious food. Outstanding Foods, also based in California, has different snack products such as guilt-free Cheeseballs without the dairy that are delicious.”

KL: I see it expanding to more markets across the country and perhaps internationally. Every year, more of the general public is becoming aware that eating plant-based is better for the environment and for them. And, the industry is changing so rapidly and innovating so quickly that we’re expecting new brands to be introduced every year.

Tickets for this nationally traveling fest will go live on Monday, January 9th at www.plantopiafest.com.