Stadium of Light power cut sees North East Vegan Festival cancelled

The sixth North East Vegan Festival was due to take place on Sunday at the home of Sunderland AFC.

But organisers were told by club bosses that the popular event could not go ahead after a power outage was caused during Sunderland’s 3-0 win over Hull City on Saturday.

The second half of the match was halted due to the blackout, with the referee restaring the game 10 minutes later.

The vegan event raises money for Farplace Animal Rescue, and is part of World Vegan Month activities taking place throughout November.

It is also a chance for vegans to buy and try all manner of products, vegan-friendly businesses to showcase their wares, and people to share information.

Organiser Gareth Edwards said: “We got a phone call about 7pm on Saturday to say that the power was down and that they would have to cancel the event.

“I’d heard a wedding party at the stadium was called off too.

“We had to spend most of Saturday night ringing around the stallholders to let them know it wouldn’t be happening.

“It’s not a good situation to be in but obviously it was no-one’s fault that there was a powercut.

“The Stadium of Light has been very supportive of the event for the past few years and we’re due to talk to them on Monday about where we go from here.”

Tickets for the event were priced at £2.

Details are yet to be confirmed over whether refunds will be awarded or money given back to traders who had bought pitches.

“It’s such a unique and unusual thing to happen, but now we just hope everything can be resolved,” added Gareth.

“We’d look to rearrange this but the festival is back here on February 12 so it’s too late to do that now.

“For the past four years, the football club could not have been more supportive so we’ll have to see what comes out of discussions with them about how we go forward.”