Alive Plant Based Festival

Alive Plant Based Festival is the Central Coast's flagship vegan event, held twice yearly in Gosford, NSW — roughly 90 minutes north of Sydney by train or car. The main 2026 edition lands on Saturday, 14 March 2026 at Leagues Club Park, a waterfront reserve right next to the tidal wading pool and the best kids' playground on the coast, and just five minutes' walk from Gosford Station. A second smaller edition is also typically held in September at Kibble Park in the Gosford CBD.

Run by Vegan NSW, the same community-based charity behind Sydney Vegan Market, Alive feels more like a festival than a market. The organisers describe it as "not just a market — we're an identity, an attitude, a family", and that community ethos shows up in the programming. Expect plant-based hot food stalls, desserts and artisanal wares from environmentally-conscious vendors, alongside live performances from vegan musicians and DJs, speaker sessions on nutrition and social issues, and a deliberately unhurried picnic atmosphere.

The waterfront setting is the real selling point. Leagues Club Park sits on Brisbane Water with grass down to the water's edge, palm trees, and panoramic views of the Central Coast hills — a genuinely beautiful backdrop for a festival that most Sydney vegans don't even know exists. The adjacent playground, wading pool and foreshore walk make it a proper family day out, not just a food stop.

Entry is always free, the event is family and pet-friendly, and the crowd mixes committed vegans with curious locals who wander in off the foreshore. The 2026 edition runs from 9am to 3pm, giving time for a morning festival graze followed by an afternoon beach trip to nearby Terrigal or Avoca.