Nourished Festival | Is it worth it?

Last week I went to my first ever Nourished Festival. It was a two day event located at the Mountain America Expo Center in Sandy, Utah. I had high hopes for this expo because I have heard nothing but good things about it. This show was the first of it's kind in the Utah area. I live in Idaho but I knew, from what I heard, that it would be worth the drive.

I was thrilled to be accepted as official press for the event. I was able to go behind the scenes, try new brands and have an area to relax. When I arrived at the venue, I was a tad surprised with how small it was. The event center is huge but the amount of booths/brands was slightly alarming. I have always heard that the Nourished Festival was huge and always busy, so this was not what I was expecting. There was roughly 80 brands at the expo. (This is still a decent sized event in this area.)

Day one was very crazy! The place was booming with people and you could feel the excitement. Everywhere you turned, there was people. If you haven't followed me for awhile, I struggle with social anxiety...like a lot! I do not do well in crowds, I am super awkward when meeting new people and being a influencer makes it even more weird for me. I took many breaks in the Blogger Lounge and stepped out of my comfort zone to meet new brands.

I spent a small amount of the day at the expo before I needed to crawl back into my introvert shell. I was able to meet 3/4 or so of the brands that were there including some of the sponsors. I figured I would just come back the next day to meet everyone else. Oh boy, was I wrong.

Day two was on a Sunday and if you are from Utah, a huge majority of the people who live there attend church. I am not one of those people so I showed up bright eyed and bushy tailed when the doors opened at 11. Sunday was a terrible day for an expo that was located in Utah. A handful of the booths did not even return for the expo. (Which stinks because I missed out on a bunch! Insert sad face here!) The day was very slow and not busy at all, which in the long run worked well for me. Because it was not busy, I didn't feel extra guilty when I took a while when talking to companies. I was able to talk to a handful of brands for at least 30 minutes each and learned so much from them. I can not wait to share what I have in the works with them.

Overall I loved the festival. It was a decent turn out for their first year in Utah and I think they can only go up from here. Even though I enjoyed my time, I have a list of recommendations that I believe will help the expo in coming years.

Hailey & a Spoon's Recommendations for Nourished Festival in Utah

- Switch the expo from a Saturday/Sunday show to a Friday/Saturday Show.

- Families in Utah have more kids than surroundings, so lowing the ticket price will bring more people in my opinon. I know friends in Idaho that didn't attend the expo just because of the cost it would be to go.

- I am the type of person who can't sit still for long, so I would have enjoyed the classes more if they were every 30 minutes or so. Also if they added some bloggers, brands and recipes to the line up, it would make the classes more enjoyable.

- I would have loved more one on one time with the brands while at the expo. I would have loved to come early or stay late for a meet and greet that is longer than 15 minutes.

Like I have said time and time again, these are just my opinions and every person had a different experience. I look forward to attending the expo next year and hopefully traveling to other Nourished Festival locations in the future.

If you have been to a Nourished Festival, what were your thoughts?