Meet the Team

VegFest Kelowna 2024 would not be possible without the work of our amazing volunteer Planning Committee

Chelsea Travere (She/Her), Committee Chair

Chelsea Travere joined VegFest Kelowna as the Volunteer Coordinator in 2023 and has now stepped into the role of Chair for 2024. Chelsea is excited to bring people together to celebrate and learn about vegan lifestyle and plant-based food.

Chelsea has been committed to a vegan lifestyle since 2011, driven by a desire to reduce animal cruelty and exploitation. She founded the Okanagan Vegans Facebook group to foster connections within the vegan community and support local vegan-friendly businesses. Chelsea's efforts include organizing vegan meetups, launching the Plant-Based Treaty Kelowna campaign, and spreading the word about vegan options around the Okanagan..

Sarah Parsons (She/Her), Committee Vice Chair / Cofounder

Sarah is the founder of Kelowna Vegan Festival which amalgamated into VegFest Kelowna in 2018. Sarah has been Vegan for 25 years and became vegetarian at an early age. Sarah's passions are art, animals (with a special fondness for pigs), plants and magical moments.

Pamela Murkin (She/Her), Treasurer / Cofounder

Pamela loves the Okanagan, festivals, and all things veg! You can find her either running after her 2 kiddos, promoting EcoCooks, eating delicious plant-based food, or volunteering for VegFest. She is passionate about animals, health, and solving the climate crisis to leave a better planet for the next generation.

Kelly Bergen (She/Her), Volunteer Coordinator

Kelly has been a vegan for 17 years and once interned for five months at an American animal rights organization in Virginia. On the weekends you can find her on the local hiking trails, playing board games with her kids, or hunkered down studying for her accounting designation.

Nicola Newington (She/Her), Donations and Silent Auctions Coordinator

Nicola has been vegan since the 1980s, when it was a very small movement compared to today. When her and her husband decided to go vegan they only knew one other family on their home island who were vegans so they had to answer all their questions. They had no internet, no access to the huge range of ready-made products that we have today, but they had compassion and motivation and lentils and beans! Nicola is glad that veganism has grown so much and that we can get great vegan food almost anywhere now. VegFest is especially exciting as it’s an event where we can eat or buy whatever we like, as everything is guaranteed to be cruelty-free. Heaven!

Roman Yunker (They/He), Website and Graphic Design

Roman co-organizes several events for vegans, animal rights activists, and supporters throughout the year. Their dream is for human society to become vegan and their goal is to help it come to fruition.. They are honoured to have a larger role in VegFest Kelowna this year and very excited for the event in September!

Thank you to all these incredible volunteers!
Join our team and apply to volunteer.