Saturday Night: An Audience With
It started on Saturday evening in a packed room at Back to Fitness Studio in Southbourne. Heather took the stage alongside Vanessa Hudson, leader of the Animal Welfare Party and a media producer who's championed plant-based living for over 25 years, and Juliet Gellatley, who founded Viva! in the early '90s and has been one of the UK's most recognisable voices for animal rights ever since. Chairing the discussion was Sasha Jolliffe, a director at We The Free whose focus is on bringing the grassroots movement together through collaboration and partnerships. Every seat was taken, people were standing at the back, and the energy was immediate: a room full of the kind of people who actually care enough to show up on a Saturday night and talk about what matters. We left buzzing, knowing Sunday was going to be something special.
The Silent March
Sunday morning. Hundreds of us lined up for the silent march through Bournemouth town centre.
There is no chanting. Just people walking together in complete silence through busy streets, carrying powerful images of animals that have suffered at human hands, alongside beautiful origami pieces by Hazel Martin capturing some of the beauty we're fighting to protect. Shoppers stop and stare. You can hear the hushed questions of curious children and the heartwarming answers of parents showing respect to the procession, explaining its meaning with real compassion and care. It is one of the most powerful things you can be part of. You feel the weight of it in your chest.
And in that silence, you find space not just to reflect on the message of the march itself, but to remember the conversations from the night before and how far this movement has come. There were dark days when educating children about the realities of cruelty was dismissed as indoctrination. To hear a parent with no connection to the day gently explain it to their child with such understanding tells you something has shifted. National Animal Rights Day is observed in more than 50 countries now, on the first Sunday of every June, and standing in that march you understand exactly why it keeps growing.
Above all, after the important observance of respect, events like these remind us to fight the good fight with kindness and optimism. It was a day to welcome strangers into the fold and in to our hearts.
We walked back to The Triangle for the reading of the Declaration of Animal Rights. Old friends finding each other in the crowd, new ones being made. Brilliant, pioneering people from across the movement, all in one place. Sobering and beautiful at the same time.
Life Festival Kicks Off
Then the mood shifted. The music started. The stalls opened up. The Triangle filled with families, dogs, curious passers-by, and the smell of incredible food from every direction.
Dippy Bamba, Hunter Bradford, Neil Sexton, James Hook, DJ Just A Mum, Hacobo, Mel Rose, Tom Dubyes. Fantastic live music all day long, the kind that makes you forget you have been on your feet since 6am. Between sets we caught talks from Juliet Gellatley, Liz Farrelly, Vanessa Hudson, Jo-Ann Carey, Charlotte Roy, Tim Barford, Chris Rigby, Nicci Harris and of course Heather Mills. The speakers kept the crowd locked in between every act.
Free admission, family-friendly, and absolutely rammed. This is what Bournemouth does when you give it something worth turning up for.
Inside the demo tent
We had no idea what to expect going into the weekend. What we got was an absolute blast.
Heather was in the demo tent doing what she does best, talking passionately and non-stop about gut health, plant-based eating, and fielding every question thrown her way. The Tofu Katsu Curry & Rice was the clear crowd favourite. People kept coming back for seconds, dragging friends over to try it, and leaving with pouches tucked under their arms to make it at home.
We met all sorts across the day. A brilliant young skater who takes No Bloat to the skate park with him. A wonderful woman who'd been diagnosed with Crohn's and told there was no way she could stay vegan and avoid flare-ups. Hundreds of curious, open-minded people who simply wanted to taste something good and hear that it didn't have to be complicated.
Because beyond the gut health conversation, this weekend was about something bigger. No Bloat is a 100% vegan brand. Always has been. Building meals that prove a plant-based diet doesn't have to be a challenge, that it can be delicious, accessible, and genuinely fun, is our small contribution to a much larger movement. That is what it's all about.
What We Took Away
There is a moment in the afternoon where you look around and realise what is actually happening. The same crowd that marched in silence that morning is now dancing, eating, laughing, buying from small vegan businesses, and introducing their kids to the whole thing. The gravity and the joy exist in the same day. Both of them matter.
Massive thank you to Sasha Jolliffe and the entire Life Festival team. To every stallholder, performer, and volunteer. To Juliet Gellatley for decades of tireless work through Viva!. And to the Bournemouth community who showed up in force across the whole weekend.
This is what happens when compassion meets community meets great food. More of this, please. ✊
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