A leading Kolkata hotel has joined the league of veggie Bollywood stars John Abraham and Mallika Sherawat in promoting vegetarianism, by holding a festival of vegetarian food.

The Kenilworth, in association with the NGO, People for Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Thursday announced the holding of a food festival that would serve a variety of Italian and Rajasthani vegetarian dishes from Aug 25 to 28. Vegetarian kebabs and sizzlers will also be on the menu.

The multi-cuisine hotel will also serve only vegetarian food for the next four days to spread the message of vegetarianism.

Director of Kenilworth Hotel Anjana Bharat said: "In a world so full of cruelty we can perhaps sow the seeds of compassion by just going vegetarian, so what better way to observe that than tie up with PETA and hold a food festival to propagate our cause and belief.

"Vegetarianism is the in-thing and it is the best way to stay healthy too," Bharat said.

"This campaign is first of its kind in Kolkata, where PETA has joined hands with a multi-cuisine hotel like us," stated vice president operations of the hotel R.S. Singh.

Various studies have proved that vegetarian food is healthier than non-vegetarian food. A US study of 50,000 vegetarians showed a very low rate of cancer. It has been estimated that by following a low-fat vegetarian diet, the risk of food poisoning is decreased by 80 percent.