VIVA'S KRIS TOWNSEND HAS OUR SPRING EPISODE FULL OF EXCLUSIVE VEGAN LISTENING. From Bristol UK, the hometown of Viva! , here's another hour's worth of exclusives, packed with vegan news, views and interviews including: Updates on our "Cracked" campaign, we take you along as we rescue Dotty, the 'loneliest sow in England', talk to festival organiser Victoria Bryceson hear from vegan musician Tally Spear it's Vegan up north as we hang out with the crowds at our Great Northern Vegan Festival we feature a short "Why I'm Vegan" film from filmmaker Guiseppe Federici And you thought cages for hens had been abolished? Viva! goes undercover to show the lives of Britain's laying hens as we update you on our 'Cracked' campaign. (). Dotty the sow is now safe in her forever home. 'The loneliest sow' and her piglets are now in the beautiful Welsh countryside at Dean Farm Animal Sanctuary after being rescued with Viva!. We did it thanks to you! Watch her rescue and read more () We interview London-based vegan musician/singer/songwriter Tally Spear as she launches her latest single "Wrong Side of the Road". The FolkRadio website writes that "Stories organically fitted into chords and melodies, expressing her personal difficulties as well as perceived social and political issues. Raised as a vegan, Tally Spear is a keen animal rights advocate and involves this content in her some of her writing." Find out more at Kris and the Viva! team grabbed some quality time - and some great interviews - as they joined the crowds at the Great Northern Vegan Festival. The festival started in 2013 and was founded by Roddy Hanson, a dedicated and passionate vegan with a drive to show the masses the benefits of a plant based diet. Now in its fourth year, the event has attracted over 4,000 attendees and 200 exhibitors. This year’s festival included a beer festival, a packed schedule of talks and demos as well as a huge range of food stalls selling delicious vegan food. The food stalls were so popular that many sold out, the caterers could hardly keep up with the demand for food! ) Victoria's the Secret Weapon.  We talk to our awesome event-organiser Victoria Bryceson, who's responsible for so many amazing events.The Northern Vegan Festival is part of a national series of vegan festivals run by Roddy Hanson who partners with Victoria and Viva! to run the busy schedule of events. Each festival is 100% voluntarily run for charity Miracle's Mission and Viva!. (read this news report about her work and the awards she's received Hear it here, watch it there. We play a clip from University of Manchester student Giuseppe Federici's short video called "Why I'm Vegan - in 90 seconds". Giuseppe made it for his university's Just Fest Film Competition in which entrants create a 90 second video on a social justice issue that matters to them. He writes "Please do your research and then make a decision. Ignorance is a choice". See more on his YouTube channel at   We're now available on Google Play as well as iTunes and lots of other places online. Hear our episodes and don't forget to share! GET THIS FREE PODCAST AUTOMATICALLY ON THE FIRST DAY OF EVERY MONTH. .