This year, the GFAF Expo held on June 1-2 in Schaumburg, IL {~40 minutes outside of the city; also in cities across the country} has rebranded as the Nourished Festival.

The Nourished Festival, with byline “The Gluten Free, Allergy & Specialty Diet Festival,” will now feature specific sections for keto, paleo, and plant-based products, alongside the gluten free requirement for all products and the nut free alley they have each year.

If you think like I do, you might be wondering: but will everything really be truly gluten free anymore? What about all those paleo products with GF ingredients, but not committed to serving the celiac community like many long-time exhibitors? Well, I was worried and inquired about exactly that. Via email:

All exhibiting brands must meet the FDA certifications for GF labeling. Same standards as the GFAF Expos 🙂 

We are now just organizing the brands better into respective zones: general GF, GF & nut-free, GF and Keto/Paleo, GF and Plant-Based.

– Laura Gruninger, Director of Public Relations, Nourished Group, February 2019

As always, I’ll be attending the festival as part of the media team {I do not have to pay an entrance fee as a result} and I will be going through the show this year with an especially fine-toothed comb to ensure the integrity of the expo is still in tact for the celiac and food allergy community!

Many of you already know that I have extensive additional allergies and intolerances, as well as type 1 diabetes, alongside living with celiac. This means that I am a very specific consumer– and I’m also quite particular with the ingredients I’ll put into my body. So, while I’m eager to check out a lot of the paleo/keto options for lower carb things as a T1D in the celiac community, I will not eat any funky fake proteins, weird gums, or fake sugars {hello, stomach aches!}

At this year’s Nourished Festival, I will focus on any new options that are GF and egg free, as well as products for the low carb community living with celiac that have real, simple ingredients.

If you want to see some recaps of other GFAF expos {now Nourished Festival} I attended over the years, take a look here and here!

And come meet me on the festival floor on Saturday June 1 from opening until around noon. Because, of course, I HAVE TICKETS TO GIVE AWAY! *To enter for 1 of 5 tickets I’m giving away on my blog {more on my Instagram and Twitter in the coming weeks @breezygfreezy!}, leave a comment and tell me the brand you most want to hear about from the exhibitor list and why. I’ll choose some faves to interview on the Nourished Festival floor!

Take it easy, but take it — and see you on June 1!

Brianna

PS- To purchase tickets directly, 30% off until April 30 and 20% off until May 31, I would appreciate if you would use my affiliate link here!