Greater Vancouver Hot Chocolate Festival returns tastier than ever
This year's festival will include a 100 vendors spanning from White Rock to Whistler
Among the participating businesses is Bella Gelateria, which is serving up two hot chocolate options and a tart topped with raspberry sorbetto. (Submitted/Diego Minor Martínez)
Metro Vancouver vendors are here to serve their signature hot chocolate creations for the 16th annual Hot Chocolate Festival.
Featuring vendors across 168 locations in the Lower Mainland, this year’s festival includes pastry and ice-cream shops, cafés, and bakeries. There are more than 200 unique flavours of hot chocolate for customers to try.
Some vendors include various Artigiano locations, Chez Christophe Chocolaterie Pâtisserie in White Rock and Burnaby, Bella Gelateria in Burnaby and Vancouver, and many more across the region.
The festival website has a vendor directory for those who wish to explore the different locations and drink creations. Hot chocolate lovers can search for a vendor by neighbourhood, service, and dietary options.
The initiative also helps support local charities such as Covenant House Vancouver and the Vancouver Fruit Tree Project through their purchases, the event’s website reads.
Bella Gelateria, a gelato shop, offers hot drinks in addition to gelato.
“The festival was created to help coffee shops and vendors … to have something else to provide during the winter, slower seasons,” says Arthur Tsang, sales and marketing manager for Bella Gelateria. “[The festival] slowly turned into a community [event] and something we look forward to each year.”
The gelato shop is offering two specialty hot chocolates for the festival: The IGP Emerald and The Piedmont Promise.
The IGP Emerald is a white hot chocolate, featuring notes of nuttiness from pistachios and a hint of raspberry on top. The Piedmont Promise is made with premium milk chocolate and roasted hazelnuts.
While both drinks contain nuts, Bella Gelataria also offers vegan, dairy-free, and gluten-free options upon request.
Both drinks are served with a tart topped with house-made raspberry sorbetto.
Tsang says customers have been enjoying the nutty flavours combined with the raspberry, but because the drinks contain nuts and real chocolate chips, accommodating people who have a nut or dairy allergy can be challenging.
But for next year’s festival, there are plans to change that.
“I think for next year, we might have three drinks and instead of going for a nut theme, we’ll go for three separate drinks that can encompass everyone,” Tsang says.
Bella Gelateria has three locations in the Lower Mainland for people to check out: two in Vancouver and one in Burnaby.
Tsang hopes visitors have a special experience and conversation, which will hopefully entice them to come back.
“[The festival] is based in Canadian culture,” Tsang says. “It makes the bridge for people to connect in times where we don’t even want to go out, encourages people to be in the streets, meet at a coffee place, and have a conversation.”
The Greater Vancouver Hot Chocolate Festival runs until Feb. 14. For more information about the event and vendors, visit www.hotchocolatefest.com.
