How to Celebrate World Vegan Month This November

When you’re vegan, every day is your very own World Vegan Day, considering you probably eat — and make decisions otherwise affecting animals — multiple times a day. But there’s only one day that marks World Vegan Day for everyone around the world — and kicks off World Vegan Month.

To learn about the holiday, when it is, and how to celebrate World Vegan Day 2023, keep reading.

Every year, World Vegan Day is observed worldwide on the first day of November — meaning that this year, the celebration falls on Tuesday, Nov. 1. The holiday kicks off World Vegan Month and encourages people, companies, and policy makers to learn more about the vegan lifestyle.

The Vegan Society claims to have coined the term “vegan” in 1944. Then, 50 years later, on Nov. 1, 1994, the organization held the first World Vegan Day, to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the World Vegan Society’s founding. Soon, the holiday evolved into World Vegan Week and later, World Vegan Month.

The Vegan Society describes World Vegan Month as “a time to shine a light on the vegan movement,” while Farm Animal Rights Movement (FARM) calls it “a month of compassion and understanding of veganism.”

It doesn't seem like there's a theme for World Vegan Month 2023. But in 2022, The Vegan Society used World Vegan Month to launch a campaign called Future Normal, which encourages non animal lovers who are not yet vegan to make the connection between the farmed animals on their plates and the companion animals they care for, hopefully inspiring them to stop eating animal products.

Future Normal aims to “show that all animals are worthy of our love and respect, regardless of their species.”

If you are not yet vegan, consider taking a pledge and trying to go vegan for the month of November. You can sign up for free support via Veganuary (yes, even if it isn’t January), Challenge 22, or Vegan Bootcamp. Make sure to spend some time experimenting in the kitchen with vegan cookbooks — and treat yourself to a tasty plant-based meal at a restaurant.

You can also take time during World Vegan Month to simply learn more about why people are vegan. For most, witnessing the suffering that farmed animals go through in the animal agriculture industry inspires them to want to take animal products off their plate; for others, learning about the severe environmental footprint of factory farming is what pushes them to take the leap.

To learn more, we recommend streaming some vegan documentaries or reading books about veganism this month, where you’ll learn about the ways animal agriculture hurts animals, the environment, and human health.

This article, originally published on Oct. 26, 2022, has been updated to reflect World Vegan Month 2023.