Star of BAFTA award winning film to open Devizes first Vegan Fair

We are delighted to announce that the first Devizes vegan fair will be officially opened by Jay Wilde, star of BAFTA award winning British Short Film, ’73 Cows’ on Sun 24th March at Devizes Corn Exchange.

The story of farmers Jay and Katja Wilde has been an inspiration worldwide and there’s no doubt that his story will be told for generations to come. This is a major step forward for veganism and for farmers to look towards alternative methods of farming.

What is ‘73 Cows’?

‘73 Cows’ tells the incredible story of UK farmer Jay Wilde, who inherited his fathers beef farm but always struggled with the ethics around raising cows for food. Becoming more and more distressed about the way he had to treat his cows to make his living he decided to give up the business, give away most of his herd to Hillside Animal Sanctuary in Norfolk and switch his focus to sustainable organic vegan agriculture!

Jay and Katja were helped by the The Vegan Society who helped them find an animal sanctuary who would take on the cows and helped them with their transition. The couple ended up keeping some of the cows as pets who now live with them on their 172 acre Bradley Nook Farm.

Filmmaker Alex Lockwood was introduced to the Wildes’ story through is wife contacted the couple and asked if he could document their story.

BAFTA award

Filmmaker and director Alex Lockwood collected his award for Best British Short Film on Sunday 10 Feb at the BAFTA’s award ceremony in London.

Speaking at the BAFTA’s Alex said, “It’s all a bit surreal at the moment, a bit of a shock. It’s a massive time for veganism and environmentalism. This is a film about Jay’s emotions and his feelings and about ultimately his decision to give is cows, the entire herd to a sanctuary. It’s a heart-warming documentary.”

At the event

We are very excited to have Farmer Jay Wilde himself open the event on Sun 24th Mar, as well as introducing the film ’73 Cows’ which will be screened on the day of the event. The screening is available to anyone attending the event but seats will be limited.

The event, which will be a first for Devizes is also being supported by The Vegan Society.

“We are delighted to be supporting the Devizes Vegan Fair, which will definitely open many people’s minds and hearts to veganism. We were pleased to learn that the beef-farmer-turned-vegan Jay Wilde will be opening the event, having assisted him in transporting the herd of cows he was looking after to a vegan sanctuary two years ago.”
- Dominika Piasecka, spokeswoman for The Vegan Society

As well as Jay we will also have a number of other special guests at the event including vegan chef and author, “Richard Church” who will be hosting a cooking demonstration.