Does chocolate make you happy? If the answer is yes, the 6th Annual Hot Chocolate Festival is here to satisfy your chocolate cravings. Through from January 16th until February 14th, bakeries, pastry shops, cafés, ice cream shops, and chocolatiers from all around Vancouver are serving specialty hot chocolate and tasty treats just for you.
“Mumbai Meets Paris” from Thomas Haas. Photo credits to Kaitlyn Tissington-Turner.
Although the festival succeeds in delighting the taste buds of Vancouverites everywhere, the inspiration behind the festival has a much deeper meaning. The goal of the festival is to raise money for the Downtown Eastside women’s job training program of the PHS Community Services Society and East Van Roasters. East Van Roasters provides training and employment to Downtown Eastside women living in Rainier Hotel, which provides addiction treatment for its residents. Due to Rainier’s approach to addiction treatment, many of the women living in Rainier have made oustanding improvements in their recovery.
Unfortunately, in January 2013, the Rainier Hotel lost its funding for its treatment program. In the meantime, East Van Roasters has continued to employ women from the Rainier Hotel and hopes to get Rainier’s program back on track. Through your love of chocolate, you can help fund the women’s job training program. Check out the Rainier Hotel if you want to learn more about it or want to help Rainier get its funding back.
“Malt Teaser” from Chocolate Arts. Photo credits to Abigail Ileto.
After learning about the meaning behind the festival, I decided to check it out. With 29 businesses taking part in the festival and 59 flavours of hot chocolate to chose from, there is plenty of choice and a month to get to as many locations as you can! This past weekend, I decided to check out the festival and headed over to 49th Parallel Coffee + Lucky’s Doughnuts. I chose “The Bee’s Knees”, which is a cup of dark hot chocolate combined with lavender syrup and steamed milk with a honey marshmallow and honey biscotti on the side. My experience was amazing and I highly recommend that you check out what the festival has to offer!
“The Bee’s Knees” from 49th Parallel Coffee + Lucky’s Doughnuts.
To find out more about the festival and where to find partnering locations, check out the Hot Chocolate Fest online. This website includes the names of the participants, the flavours, a contest you can enter, and a walking map that can help you find the stores taking part. I also recommend checking out the CityFood magazine, which includes a daily calendar that tells you what flavours are being sold each day. February 14th will be here before you know it, so make sure to try out some delicious hot chocolate and tasty creations while you can!