A POPULAR food market in Worcester city centre returned today - with lots of vendors and attendees.

The Worcester Vegan Market was in full swing today (On Saturday, October 21), bringing together a variety of street food vendors, artisan bakers, craft brewers, ethical jewellers and more.

Nancy Pease and Matt Neal, of Soul Bowl, were at today's event selling smoothie bowls and vegan poke bowls (a Hawaiian delicacy which traditionally uses raw fish).

Soul Bowl is still very new as a business, with today's event not only being the business' first in Worcester but also the first event since starting.

Nancy Pease said: "It has been really good, there has been a lot of work to do and we spent all day yesterday prepping.

"It has been really good fun so far."

Matt Neal: I came to college in Worcester so it has been a real throwback coming here today. It is great to be here and it is a great atmosphere.

"The other vendors and the people passing by have all been so lovely."

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Another vendor from today's event is  Priscah Chidavaenzi, of Modern Green Naturals, an all-natural vegan skincare brand.

She said: "All of my products are vegan-friendly so this was a great opportunity to sell my range.

"Everything at my stall is made by myself."

The Mayor of Worcester, Cllr Louis Stephen, praised the growing success of the event in Worcester.

He said: "It is great to see the event return, it is a real sign of the success of the event. It is getting bigger and better every time.

"A vegan diet is also a very important step to reduce CO2 emissions. We should all be taking some steps to strive towards this so having a vegan market is a brilliant way to encourage this."

The event is brought to the city by Vegan Market Co, which operates in over 50 towns and cities across the UK.

Lewis Beresford, VMCO’s founder, said: “We are so excited to be back in Worcester. We work hard to find the country’s leading vegan producers, from street food vendors and bakers to ethical clothing and cosmetic producers.

"We also work with many local businesses and can’t wait to give all of these fantastic producers the platform they deserve and introduce them to the wonderful people of Worcester."

The market opened at 11am and will be continuing until 6pm this afternoon.