I look forward to attending the Oregon Chocolate Festival,  held in nearby Ashland, Oregon, every year . . . for the most obvious reason: chocolate! The organizers of this event wisely schedule it for early March, after St. Valentine’s Day when the weather is usually gloomy and there isn’t much happening. They make a whole weekend of it, with a chocolate makers’ wine dinner and silent auction on Friday evening, a chocolate brunch offered on Saturday and Sunday mornings, family fun runs on Sunday, a Wonka chocolate costume contest and family activities (kids 8 and under enjoy free admission). For those looking for more indulgence, a local spa features some special chocolate massage and facial experiences.

The Ashland Hills Hotel hosts the main event—two days where vendors share their samples and sell their products—and offers a special weekend package for those who want to spend the weekend immersed in the chocolate experience.  We generally find a few hours permits us time to check out all the participants (though, granted, one can get a bit overwhelmed with all the chocolate), with the $20 entrance fee quite reasonable considering all the options one has. This 20th iteration boasted 55 participants, though not all were selling strictly chocolate confections. Anything that could be served with chocolate or might have chocolate or cacao as one ingredient was welcome, so there were a few different wineries and distilleries present (even an artisan mead producer!), our favorite cheese maker (Rogue Creamery), a few bakeries and a hot sauce purveyor. The latter used cacao in one of his sauces, but had also teamed up with a chocolatier who used his spicy condiment in their bonbons. Others sold health care products, pottery and t-shirts; but let’s face it, they were not the main draw.

Despite the name, the participants did not hale solely from Oregon, though the majority did, quite a few from within a 50-mile radius of the festival. Others came from California, Arizona and Washington state. There’s usually quite a throng milling through the two ballrooms holding tables and displays of the vendors, and we’ve learned that later in the afternoon the crowd usually thins out a bit, making it easier to grab a sample. This year we had a light snowfall (the same weekend the Sierras, just a ways south and east of us, were getting hammered with feet of snow and blizzard conditions), and it seemed to have discouraged some people from turning out. Lucky for us!

We made a valiant effort to try as many of the beautiful and tasty offerings as possible. I always enjoy seeking out new purveyors to the event (and know which of the repeat vendors to revisit), especially those who have just recently started their chocolate business. One of these was Édeske Patisserie, a young husband-and-wife team from Hood River, Oregon, who make gorgeous bonbons (and other desserts). I was happy to purchase some goodies from them in support of their dreams. Another such duo, Kris and Jordan from Portland, Oregon, started their Hygge Chocolates following the pandemic, inspired by Kris’s Scandinavian heritage and the concept of hygge, comfort and coziness. Lidia’s Chocolates from Bend, Oregon, is another family-owned business that makes chocolate exclusively from rich Venezuelan beans. And we always stop at Holm Made Toffee Co. to sample several of their wide variety of toffees (I love the hazelnut and marionberry toffee and the vanilla and cardamom one).   They cleverly provided a rubber stamp with their name on it so people could easily vote for them on the People’s Choice ballot, and, not surprisingly, they won the People’s Choice Award! We continued circling and sampling throughout the afternoon, drawn in by one beautiful display or tempting flavor description after another  until the announcement of the winners of the professionally judged competition. Across several categories, I was pleased that some of my favorites (including a truffle from Édeske and the hazelnut toffee from Holm) had also found favor with the judges. We also then went back and sampled some of the winners we had not yet tried. We wrapped up our indulgent afternoon with a final stop at Travelers Ice Cream booth for a scoop of unbelievably rich chocolate fudge ice cream. Another husband-and-wife team effort, Travelers has an April to October pop-up shop at a winery right in my home town, Central Point, and also makes ice cream sandwiches and cakes to order. Who knew? Now that I do, you can bet I’ll extend my Chocolate Festival experience all summer, right nearby.

— Patty Vanikiotis, associate editor/copy editor