Ketofest 2018 – New London, Connecticut

We were so lucky this year to be able to attend Ketofest 2018. This was our first keto event outside of Australia. We attended Low Carb Down Under Sydney 2018 and since then have become addicted to low carb and keto events.

We knew we had to go to Ketofest 2018. The 2 keto dudes were instrumental in our ketogenic journey and we were really excited to finally meet them. We were also fortunate enough to be asked by Louise Reynolds to do a cooking demonstration of our breakfast muffins and our pecan cheesecake muffins.

The thing that sets ketofest apart from the other keto and low carb events is that the 2 keto dudes wanted it to be more a festival and celebration of keto and not a conference. We think this seemed to appeal much more to the everyday ketonian. There were people from all walks of life and at different stages of their keto journey which was so fun and exciting to be around.

Fasting Friday

We didn’t arrive into New London, Connecticut until Friday afternoon, so we missed fasting Friday. Fasting Friday included lectures in the Morning from Megan Ramos from IDM. Other events on ‘non-food’ related fasting friday included yoga, exercise classes, walking tours and the VIP party at Carl’s house.

Social Saturday Ketofest 2018 – New London, Connecticut

Social Saturday is the part of this event that sets itself apart from the other keto and low carb events. It’s all about having fun and the practical side of a keto lifestyle. It includes cooking demonstrations, cheesemaking demonstrations, fitness classes, live podcast recordings and an ice-cream social on Saturday night.

Cooking Demonstrations

• Sweet and Savoury Breakfast Muffins By Louise Reynolds and US!!
• Pork Rind Pancakes by Brenda Zorn
• Pulled Lamb and Haloumi by Richard Morris
• Keto Chocolate Ganache by Taffy Elrod
• Savoury Rice by Jon Slaughter
• Keto Eclairs by Kim Howerton

There were plenty of samples to go around after each demonstration and I can personally vouch for how delicious Taffy’s chocolate truffles and Kim’s chocolate eclairs were.

Cheesemaking Demonstrations

The amazing Pamela Zorn from Wine and Whey was demonstrating how to make burrata, which is a mozzarella ball she filled with a mixture of ricotta and cultured butter (that she also made!). Let me just say this cheese was divine and I have never had burrata like it before.

The cheesemaking demonstrations were very practical and easy to follow, and we all left feeling very confident we could tackle this at home ourselves. They were also selling cheese and butter making kits which were very popular. The bonus was we all got a small cheesemaking kit in our goodie bags, so we will be making our cheese in no time.

Cheese & Wine Tastings

Thames Street Greenery held tastings of artisanal cheese and dry red wines throughout the day.

Live Podcasts

• Keto Talk with Jimmy Moore
• Completely Keto with Kim Howerton and Dr Ken Berry
• Ketowoman with Daisy Brackenhall
• 2 Keto Dudes with Carl Franklin and Richard Morris
• Ketohacking with Jimmy Moore
• Ketovangelist Kitchen with Carrie Brown

Throughout the day there were live podcasts being recorded at one of the venues and you could come and go as you liked. A lot of popular keto podcasters were there, Daisy Brackenhall from Ketowoman, Jimmy Moore from Keto Talk and Ketohacking and of course Richard Morris and Carl Franklin from 2 Keto Dudes.

If you are a podcast junkie like us check out our list of our favourite podcasts here. You should also listen to Dan and I telling our weight loss stories on the Ketowoman podcast.

Plaza

A huge marquee was set up in the main plaza in New London and was filled with long tables and chairs for lunch and keto vendors. It was a great atmosphere with a live music by the Rivergods. It certainly was a social event with everyone enjoying their keto lunch together and chatting away.

• Zevia, stevia sweetened soft drink, and bottled water
• Whole pig roast with keto friendly BBQ sauce 
• Grilled sugar free, high fat sausages with coleslaw
• Carl’s cauliflower clam chowder

There were also vendors set up in the plaza with samples and it was great to be able to talk to each one about their products, try them and ask questions. Unfortunately most of these are not available in Australia.

• Keto Mojo – Blood glucose and ketone monitoring system
• Keto Chow – Complete meal replacement shake
• Fox Hill Kitchens – Low carb, gluten free breads, bagels, buns and croutons
• Keto & Co – Sated meal replacement shake, dried cauliflower and broccoli, keto brownies
• IDM – Intensive Dietary Management program
• RNA Reset – Magnesium supplements

Ice Cream Social

We were really looking forward to this. What’s not to love about keto ice-cream. There were two different vendors, Rebel Ice Cream and Keto and Co. Keto and Co provided soft serve ice cream and Rebel Ice Cream had the long awaited launch of their scoop ice cream.

There was also keto-friendly toppings like brownies, cookies and sauces. This was a very popular event with a big line up to get in. It was definitely worth the wait. Lets just say the Rebel Ice Cream is just like legit ice-cream and I am kinda jealous that our US friends will be able to purchase it soon!

Saturday night restaurant romp

All attendees were given two $10 restaurant vouchers that could be used at six restaurants in New London. Each participating restaurant had special keto-friendly options available on menu for the Saturday night. There were bunless burgers, chicken wings, baby back ribs, salmon, steak, antipasto platters, Carl’s Head pizza and so much more available.

We went to Hot Rod’s with a group and thoroughly enjoyed our keto sampler platter which included some grilled prawns, chicken wings, ribs, bacon and a sausage and capsicum skewer. They even had a keto chocolate mousse available for dessert!

Science Sunday Ketofest 2018 – New London, Connecticut

Science Sunday involved two venues as they had so many excellent speakers. We decided to split up so we could cover as many of the speakers as possible. Erika attended the Garde Arts Center and Dan attended the ISAAC school.

Garde Arts Center

• Key note with Carl Franklin and Richard Morris
• The Science on Keto and Diabetes  by Nina Teicholz
• Lies My Doctor Told Me and What I Can Do About it by Ken Berry MD
• Keto Made Simple by Dr Eric Westman
• When Weightloss Stalls by Dr Jeffrey Gerber
• The Science of Communicating Science by Jimmy Moore
• Warburg 101: Intro to Energy Metabolism and Cancer by Prof Richard Feinman
• The Paradox of Insulin Resistance vs LDL Cholesterol by Dr Nadir Ali, MD
• An Engineering Guide to Chronic Disease Avoidance by Ivor Cummins
• Closing ceremony

ISAAC School

• How to Get the Most out of that Keto Energy by Allan Misner
• Practical Fasting and the Science of Intermittent Fasting by Megan Ramos
• Ecoding Cholesterol – The new lipid energy model and why it matters by Dave Feldman
• LDL: Primed to Protect (Cholesterol’s role in defense and repair) by Siobhan Huggins
• Your Marvellous Mevalonate Machine vs the Statin Slayer by Nick Mailer
• Ruminant Revolution by Peter Ballerstedt
• Nourish your Neurons: Alzheimer’s Disease as Type 3 Diabetes and a Nutritional Strategy to Fight it by Amy Berger
• Carnivorous Diets: Benefits Beyond Low Carb by L. Amber O’Hearn

Again, food was supplied throughout the day and it was all delicious!

• An all day bacon bar
• Grilled cheese sandwiches on Fox Hill Kitchen’s bagels
• Keto & Co’s beef stroganoff with cauliflower rice
• Ketofest cocktail – soda water, apple cider vinegar, citrus bitters, and a drop of stevia
• Keto & Co chocolate brownies

There were also vendors set up in the Garde Centre on the Sunday as well. By far our favourite were the keto bundt cakes and cookie bars from Low Carb Oven. Denise, the owner/creator, is a lovely lady and all her products are made with top notch ingredients and are just delicious. If you are in the US, you should definitely order some of these. Check out Dan trying them for the first time on our ketofest vlog if you are interested.

Swag Bags

All the attendees got a swag bag at registration which included your meal vouchers, coupons for taste testing at the cooking demonstrations, your name tag, a program for the weekend, a full sized bag of Front Porch Pecans, a Keto Chow sample sachet and shaker bottle, a mini cheesemaking kit from Wine & Whey, a dried broccoli sample sachet from Keto & Co and ours included our kickstarter t-shirt too.

Our final thoughts on Ketofest 2018

So I have a confession to make. I am totally addicted to keto events now. This is only our second one and we are already planning our next ones. We were so happy when Carl and Richard announced Ketofest Canberra in September 2018. That event was quickly added to our keto events list.

We have also booked Low Carb Down Under Gold Coast 2018 and are hoping we can find a way to go to Low Carb Denver 2019 (working on growing the frequent flyer points as we speak!).

Dan’s thoughts

On social Saturday my favourite events where Taffy’s ganache cooking demonstration, the Ketovangelist Kitchen live podcast, the ice cream social and finally getting to meet a lot of my online friends for the first time in real life! Our facebook group had a dinner on the Saturday night and it was so much fun hanging out with people we have had online friendships with for over a year.

On science Sunday I got to see some amazing speakers. My favourites of the day being Allan Misner, Amy Berger and Amber O’Hearn. As we were planning to do a carnivore month in August I was really interested in seeing Amber O’Hearn. Well, she did not disappoint. Her talk focused on the differences and similarities between keto and carnivore, which was really helpful to set my mind on the carnivore month.

The absolute highlight for me was being around like-minded ketonians and not having to worry about the food we were eating. Overall, it was an awesome experience and I can’t wait for our next event.

Erika’s thoughts

Well what a whirlwind ketofest was! I am so glad that Dan supported me and encouraged me to go, as I was anxious beforehand about being judged as I still have weight to lose. There was certainly no judgement at ketofest and it had a very positive and inclusive vibe, no matter what stage you are at in your keto journey.

I just loved being around so many likeminded people. We met loads of people and have made new life long friends I agree with Dan the the social aspect of Ketofest, compared to a regular conference, was just the best.

Science Sunday was a real highlight for me, as most of the speakers are like celebrities to me. I have been following them online for years and watching them on youtube, so seeing them in real life was just awesome. We managed to be brave and grab some selfies, and everyone of the speakers I met were just lovely people.

So, you may have guessed, we LOVED Ketofest. We really enjoyed the unique mix of social activities and also the informational side. The dudes have found a great mix with social Saturday and science Sunday. I you have the opportunity to attend Ketofest in Canberra, or next year in New London – do it! You will not regret it.