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 The 2012 IVU Congress/Vegfest will be in San Francisco and Los Angeles, California, USA:
- to be hosted in SF by the SF Vegetarian Society at the County Fair Building in the Golden Gate Park. SFVS have been holding a locally-based World Veg Festival at this time for many years with several thousand visitors each year.
- and in LA by Vegsource at the Healthy Lifestyle Expo in the Warner Center Marriott, Woodland Hills. This great event has also been running most years for many years and received high acclaim from hundreds who keep going back.
It will be possible to go to either or both parts of this amazing event - further details will be added here as they become available, below is a rough idea of the plans so far - all subject to change at this stage:
All food in all locations will be completely vegan as always.
Friday October 5 - arrivals at various hotels/hostels in San Francisco, opening meal and celebrations, possibly at a famous restaurant in the city.
- there will be a package available via Green Earth Travel which will include a quality hotel on Union Square - more details will be here when they are available, or contact GET direct.
- HappyCow.net is also compiling a San Francisco Guide - including hotels/hostels (more on there coming soon - see also SF on hotels.com) - so you can make your own arrangements and just pay for the events separately as you wish (admission to the SFVS event in the park is usually just $7, and lots of vendors for vegan food)
- or if you want a really cheap/basic hostel see Hostels.com/SanFrancisco
Saturday 6 & Sunday 7 - the VegFest in Golden Gate Park (link to wikipedia), the SFVS annual event but with more international speakers. Details will be at www.sfvs.org/wvd as they become available. Attendance last year was estimated at 6,500 - you'll have plenty of company!
Lots of videos from the 2011 SFVS event: www.youtube.com/..../sfvs+wvf2011
Monday 8 - Tuesday 9 - more talks, workshops, events, visits and sightseeing tours in various locations around the city and beyond.
Wednesday 10 - Friday 12 - there should be optional tours available in the Bay Area and beyond.
 Right: an aerial view of the Golden Gate Park - pacific ocean on the right.
The exact address for the IVU Congress in San Francisco:
San Francisco County Fair Building 1199 9th Ave, San Francisco, California (415) 831-5500 · parks.sfgov.org
The facility is inside the Golden Gate Park and right beside the Botanical Garden. The IVU facility has its own gate and entrance. See link below for map, transportation and directions:
www.sfbotanicalgarden.org/visiting/page2.html
 Friday 12 - take the short flight, about 1 hour, down to Los Angeles for the evening reception and opening of the Healthy Lifestyle Expo.
- Southwest Airlines - www.southwest.com - Oakland to Burbank, flights every hour, currently showing $89 one way - you will have to book this yourself. Woodland Hills is 13 miles (21km) west of Burbank, a shuttle bus could be possible if enough are going at the same time.
- if you're going to both events, most airlines will let you fly into SFO and home from LAX at no extra cost.
- if you're not going to SF first, just make your own way to the Warner Center Marriott, Woodland Hills (photo right).
- Friday evening reception buffet at the hotel is included in the Expo price.
Saturday 13 - Sunday 14 - Vegsource Healthy Lifestyle Expo in the Warner Center Marriott, Woodland Hills, lots of great speakers - booking is now open - details at www.healthylifestyleexpo.com
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Breakfast available in the hotel, in a choice of locations, chargeable to your room.
- lunch and dinner vegan buffets will be priced separately, pay as you eat or chargeable to your room.
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or there are great vegan eateries nearby for all meals if you prefer to go out.
- rooms are priced $109 (plus tax) per room per night, it should possible to have extra beds if you have more people share with with...
Monday 15 - a day of international lectures, talks workshops etc
Tuesday 16 - optional extra day for local tours etc.
Wednesday 17 - depart - or possible post-congress tours further afield...
Cost estimate for the Los Angeles sessions (dinner Friday 12 thru breakfast Weds 17): includes 5 nights in a shared room, all food, all lectures/tours etc. - approx. US$1,000 per person.
Disclaimer: this is just a very rough estimate for advance planning. Individual costs could vary considerably depending on individual arrangements. This doe NOT include any travel costs.
- find cheaper hotels in the Woodland Hills area (expedia.com)
- veg restaurants & health food stores in Woodland Hills (HappyCow.com)
Excerpts from the 2011 VegSource Healthy Lifestyle Expo:
The Green Lifestyle Film Festival, based in LA will be in SF for the weekend.
- and Green Earth Travel based in DC will be assisting with the arrangements.
Register your intention to join us on the IVU Facebook event page
Meanwhile,
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to IVU Online News - this is a monthly e-mail newsletter and
it will always have news of IVU Congresses along with other items of
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