The Festival of Chocolate Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale

The Festival of Chocolate unites chocoholics for a full weekend of decadent diversion, packed with demonstrations, competitions, and hands-on experiences. Interactive classes helmed by chocolate masters serve as educational launch pads during visits, filling the heads of budding chocolatiers with rich, creamy knowledge for further exploration into the fine art of confections. Pairing sessions encourage guests to munch through enticing chocolate and wine tandems, and during demonstrations, award-winning chefs concoct simple yet elegant creations, dispelling the myth that all chocolate treats sprout in pastures of Easter grass.

Once sufficiently informed, attendees can exhibit their new-found wisdom in guest competitions such as cookie stacking and by taking on challenges at the Chocolate Game Show stage. They can also exchange pockets full of chocolate-chip coins—the only monetary currency accepted at the festival and in Switzerland—for sweets rustled up at a s'mores buffet and chocolaty eats such as truffles, nitrogen ice cream, cakes, cookies, and crepes produced by local and regional companies.