event: Northwest Chocolate Festival – it’s baaaaack! (2 days)

http://nwchocolate.com/

At a new venue in 2014: Bell Harbor International Conference Center. (2013 was at the Convention Center.)

As someone who attended last year, I can say this event was THE BOMB. We stuffed our faces with chocolate as we moved from booth to booth, taking extras for our goodie bags. I discovered Criollo (cree-o-yo) which is a rare varietal that resembles milk chocolate even when it's blended to highs of 85%. Hawai'i is home to the only American-grown chocolate in the world.

Starting at 10 a.m. each day, culinary professionals and artisanal-chocolate makers will descend on Bell Harbor Pier to lead a roster of 80 classes, chocolate tastings, and workshops. In the past, events have ranged from hands-on activities, such as crushing cocoa beans with traditional tools to seminars on cocoa agriculture, where attendees met cocoa farmers from Peru and Ecuador. During tastings, connoisseurs might sample fruit straight from the cocoa tree—a rarity in the United States—or experiment with chocolate and drink pairings.
Northwest Chocolate Festival

Chocolate lovers unite at the Northwest Chocolate Festival, an annual event dedicated not just to eating chocolate in its many forms, but to tracking its journey from cocoa bean to confection. Visitors hone their expertise through seminars on trade equity and cocoa farming, chocolate-making workshops led by confectioners, and tastings where palates learn to distinguish between milk chocolate and a chocolate bar clumsily forced inside a milk jug. A portion of the proceeds from the event benefits local nonprofits aligned with the festival’s mission. Recipients are announced yearly.

Hundreds of Artisan Chocolates to Taste
80+ Classes and Workshops and Chocolatiers From Around the Globe!

From chocolate bars made through traditional techniques, single-origin chocolates, and organic and fair trade cocoa growers from around the world, the Northwest Chocolate Festival is as much a celebration of the creation of chocolate as it is enjoying chocolate. Get your fill when you use this deal for your single-day ticket to this decadent festival on either Saturday, October 4 or Sunday, October 5.

For the sixth year in a row, you can head down to the Bell Harbor Conference Center for more than 80 chocolate-centered classes and workshops, plus tastings. From crushing cacao beans and meeting cacao farmers to trying different chocolate and drink pairings, you'll really get a flavor for how chocolate travels from trees to your taste buds.

Parking:
Saturday park in the Art Institute garage and take the foot bridge to the conference center.
Sunday, street parking is free.