This show is like taking a virtual preview of the 2nd annual Eugene Veganfest and The Blue Barn Farm & Animal Sanctuary. Join me as Hope Bohanec returns to "That Vegan Show" to share about the Eugene Veganfest (event is on May 3, 2026). Learn about the speakers, vendors, sanctuaries and rescues that will be at the Veganfest. Guest Melissa Patricelli relays how she founded Blue Barn Farm & Sanctuary, shares about the animal residents, and her involvement in the Veganfest.
Eugene VeganFest, May 3, Eugene, Oregon: Hope Bohanec shared, The Eugene VeganFest is a celebration of compassionate and sustainable living with fantastic food, innovative vendors, and inspiring speakers. You can learn about how you can curb climate change, learn about eco products, save animals from suffering, and help your body thrive. There will be dozens of local vendors featuring plant-based food and drink, non-profits doing community work, and animal sanctuaries that rescue animals in need. There will also be two rooms of informative presentations: The Impact Room will feature speakers focused on ethical and environmental reasons to be vegan and the Vitality Room will focus on health and nutritional benefits of a plant-based diet. Featured speakers include Michael Klaper, M.D. and Dr. Joanne Kong- and many more speakers to choose from! There is also a kids' activity area.
Compassionate Living is a 501c3 non-profit organization working to end farmed animal suffering and encourage vegan living. Through educational activities, community building, compassionate and inclusive outreach, framing veganism as a justice issue, while educating on the sentience and of animals, we hope to be part of achieving a just, compassionate, non-violent, vegan world. Some of their projects include The Humane Hoax Project, The Ahisma Living Project, The Sonoma County Vegfest, and the Eugene VeganFest.
Hope Bohanec: You will meet the Founder and Executive Director of Compassionate Living, thirty-year career activist Hope Bohanec. Having gathered experience and wisdom about animal advocacy through her long trajectory, Hope participated in important movements in her youth such as Greenpeace and Earth First! as well as organized anti-circus, anti-fur, and anti-vivisection campaigns and protests throughout the 1990s.
In the 2000s, as the movement shifted its focus to animals used for food, Hope shifted from radical, direct action activism to vegan education and compassionate advocacy. Hope spent fifteen years working for the national non-profit organizations United Poultry Concerns and In Defense of Animals and has published two books on the subject of humanewashing and greenwashing: The Ultimate Betrayal: Is There Happy Meat? and The Humane Hoax: Essays Exposing the Myth of Happy Meat, Humane Dairy, and Ethical Eggs. She created and hosts the Hope for the Animals Podcast, now in its fourth year with downloads on six continents.
Melissa Patricelli: Melissa is Blue Barn Farm & Sanctuary’s founder and executive director. She has brought her vision and compassion to the community, the kids in Blue Barn’s programs, and their rescued animal residents. Whether in her role as founder and ED of Blue Barn Farm and Sanctuary, or through her desire to plant seeds of compassion and humanity in the community and the world at large, she stands out as a beacon of kindness and inspiration.
Melissa’s journey began with a Masters in Counseling degree, which led her to working with children in therapeutic, recreation, and educational settings. While working in an elementary school district in the north Chicago suburbs, Melissa discovered HEART- Humane Education Advocates Reaching Teachers and her love for humane education was born. She brought HEART’s programming into her schools, teaching students about helping animals, their environment and other human beings. She quickly recognized the importance of incorporating lessons focused on kindness and compassion, which eventually led to her later certification in Humane Education and the beginning of Blue Barn’s Bunnies and Books program. Melissa also discovered veganism while living in Chicago- nearly 20 yrs ago, which also led to advocacy work such as tabling for organizations such as Mercy for Animals and doing vegan bake sales to support local shelters. It was then that she realized that someday, somehow, she would open a farm animal sanctuary.
Fast forward to 2015 and Melissa moved to Eugene OR, where she knew she found the location of her long-awaited sanctuary. Two years later, property was purchased in Creswell, and six years after bringing in Blue Barn’s first residents (on her 49th birthday), Melissa’s commitment and compassion have not wavered. She is up before the crack of dawn every day, rain or shine or more rain, to put her boots on the ground and her heart into caring for the lives that depend upon her. Melissa finds joy in connecting people of all ages with animals and believes that every interaction can build stronger networks that will lead to a better world for all creatures.
If you would like more information:
Home - VeganFest - Eugene VeganFest: May 3, 2026, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m., Lane Events Center, 796 W 13th Ave, Eugene, OR 97402
Blue Barn Farm & Sanctuary (bluebarnsanctuary.org)
Meet the guests: