Shindig 2016 at the Catskills Animal Sanctuary was a party indeed. You can’t have a Shindig without rescued animals, vegan food, live music, hayrides, speakers & of course some vegan fashion. Gunas attended the event and set up our very own booth right by some friendly, boisterous roosters. The day was filled with over 800 people coming and going, enjoying all the festivities happening on the 110-acre refuge land in New York’s Hudson Valley.
Catskills Animal Sanctuary has been rescuing animals since 2001, over 4,000 animals to be more exact. Founder, Kathy Stevens, started the sanctuary in order to give nonhuman animals a loving home, because all animal lives matter and none should have to suffer. We had the pleasure of speaking to Kathy at the Shindig and she was kind enough to answer some of our questions on how she started Catskills and why it is important to have brands like ours be represented at events like Shindig. She believes spreading veganism not only in what we eat but what we wear is important, because even our fashion choices can affect an animal’s life. So, we are proud to be a vegan & sustainable handbag brand and be a voice to the animals.
Other attendees at Shindig included delicious vegan food vendors like Cinnamon Snail, Love Grace juice, Cheezehound and Like No Udder ice cream. We definitely enjoyed eating all the amazing food when we weren’t busy selling our handbags to new and returning vegan customers! It was great seeing familiar faces as well as meeting new fresh-faced ladies and introducing the Gunas brand to them. We were able to enjoy live music all day from bands like Trio Mio, Dots Will Echo, Lions on the Moon and Stellar Ego. Can’t forget about animal-friendly health & wellness; Arbonne, The Fanciful Fox and Pure Haven Essentials were in attendance at the event as well.
The best part of the day of course was petting and seeing all the happy and healthy farm animals! We were able to go into the petting areas to visit with the baby goats. You could see people anxiously standing up by the fences waiting for the cows, goats and pigs to come up and visit with them. The look in the animal’s eyes when you pet them graciously is enough to melt your heart. Hermione the goat, and Jesse and Amos the cows were a popular hit amongst everyone. They had a great time sharing the day with compassionate guests!
Overall Shindig 2016 was a successful day! Can’t beat a day full of playing with animals, eating vegan food, connecting with like-minded people and of course shopping for beautiful vegan handbags! It was great being a part of something that is so important to us, helping save and rescue farm animals. Can’t wait for the next event and hope to see everyone again soon.
GUNAS New York @ Catskills Animal Sanctuary Shindig 2016 from gunas newyork on Vimeo.