Grab your friends and family and take a walkabout in downtown Lewisburg during the 11th annual Chocolate Festival, slated for Saturday, April 8th from 11am-4pm. There will be over 32,000 tastings across 35+ locations, chocolate demonstrations, a chocolate bake-off, chocolate mousse eating contest, live music, a chocolate-themed photo booth, and more! While this event ends at 4pm, stay for dinner because many downtown restaurants will be serving chocolate themed entrees and desserts!
Start your morning with the HospiceCare 10K Chocolate Chase. This race starts at Greenbrier Valley Airport, 9am. If you don’t feel like running but would like to participate, do the fun walk, starting at 9am at Premier Bank in downtown Lewisburg.
Afterwards, re-energize with a cup of coffee at the Wild Bean located on 119 E. Washington Street. They serve delicious coffees, lattes, cappuccinos, smoothies, breakfast burritos, muffins, etc. This is also a tasting location so pick up an Espresso Brownie, or two, before heading out for your chocolate walkabout! Here is a list of tastings and locations starting on E. Washington Street and ending on Court Street.
The Livery: White & Dark Chocolate Bark with Dried Fruits & Nuts. The Front Porch: 4 flavors of chocolate bars!
General Lewis Inn: Perfect Chocolate Cookie made with Toasted Almonds and fair trade cocoa.
French Goat” Chocolate Mousse with Sweet Corn Panna Cotta, Old Scout Whiskey Caramel & Chocolate Crumble.
The Asylum: 2 different flavored shots: Chocolate Covered Banana Split Shot and The Asylum Chocolate Shot (21+).
Robert’s Antiques: Moscato Dessert Wine (21+).
Edith’s Health Food Store: Non-GMO Chocolate Bites by Endangered Species in 3 Varieties: Caramel Sea Salt, Almonds & Sea Salt and Creamy Dark; ReMax for their Amaretto & Bourbon Mousse
Greenbrier Real Estate: Milk & Dark Chocolate Houses
WV Fine Artisan’s Gallery: Eiffel Tower Pops and Chocolate covered Pretzels by the Students of the 2018 Greenbrier East High School French Exchange
Bella the Corner Gourmet: Jcoco Bali Sea Salt, Edamame Sea Salt, and Noble Dark Chocolates
Plants Etc: Homestead Creamery’s Chocolate Oreo Ice Cream.
Blackwell’s: Chocolate Bread Pudding w/ Chocolate Caramel Bourbon Sauce.
Hill and Holler: Double Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Sandwiches and
The Hub Student Café: Chocolate Dipped Banana Chips by High Rocks.
Loosen your belt and get ready for more as you walk back to the traffic light and cross Rt 219 over to the Greenspace to enjoy Shoney’s Hot Fudge Cake, an annual favorite. You’ll now be on the block between W. Washington and Court Street. The tastings include:
Wolf Creek Gallery: Belgian Chocolate Pralines: White, Milk & Dark Chocolate; Passion Fruit; Gugelhopf; Salted Caramel: Almond and Blood Orange
Love Child: Chocolate Drizzled Popcorn by Greenbrier Episcopal School.
The Bakery: French Silk Tartlet
Show your Colors: Chocolate Covered Strawberries.
Visitor’s Center: Oreo Truffle Balls by Greenbrier East HS National Honor Society; Candied Orange Peels Dipped in Chocolate by ProStart Culinary Students from Davis Stuart; White Chocolate Clusters with Pistachios & Cranberries and Dark Chocolate with Peanuts and Raisins; and Peanut Butter Balls and Coconut Balls Covered in Chocolate by Carnegie Hall.
Yarid’s: Holl’s Chocolate Lollipops.
Del Sol: Chocolate Martinis.
Food & Friends: Triple Chocolate Pecan Bread Pudding.
Harmony Ridge Gallery: Smooth Ambler Bourbon Caramel & Black Walnut Chocolate Ganache Cup AND an Apple Butter Tart with Spiced White Chocolate Mousse by the Greenbrier Sporting Club.
Serenity Now Outfitters: Sticky Finger Apples.
Amy’s Cakes and Cones: Mini Chocolate Covered Caramel Ice Cream cones
EVENTS:
Chocolate Themed Photo Booth: 11am-4pm
“All Things Chocolate Bake-off,” a benefit for Greenbrier Humane Society, is held at Premier Bank. Registration: 10-11am; Judging: 11am-12pm; Tastings: 12pm-2pm.
El Gleno Grande (horse guy) will be performing on his noble steed, Sigfrido, at the corner of Washington and Court Street at 11:45am and 1:45pm.
Chocolate Mousse Eating Contest at Stella’s Restaurant. Registration is free and available between 10am-12:30pm. The age brackets are: ages 5-9 at 1pm; ages 10-14 at 1:30pm, and ages 15+ at 2pm.
Children’s Story Time, 1pm at Love Child.
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) played at the Lewis Theatre on N. Court St at 10:30am and 2:30pm.
CHOCOLATE DEMOS:
Omni Homestead Resort’s Executive Pastry Chef, Leen Kim, 1pm, City National Bank.
Greenbrier Sporting Club Executive Pastry Chef, Amy Mills, 2pm at Visitor’s Center
LIVE MUSIC:
Black King Coal (genre: Appalachian soul) at the Greenspace from 11am-2pm.
Second Block Rock w/ opening act by the GEHS Steel Drum Band at the Greenspace at 2:30pm.
EVENING ENTERTAINMENT:
Whiskey Vector, 9pm at The Asylum.
To enjoy the tastings, you will need tasting tickets. These are available at LewisburgChocolateFestival.com until Thursday, April 6th. You can also purchase them downtown at the Visitor’s Center, Harmony Ridge Gallery, and Bella the Corner Gourmet until 5pm on Friday the 7th.
– HashtagWV #88, April 2017
HASHTAGWV ART & ENTERTAINMENT Publisher/Editor-in-Chief, Christina Entenmann-Edwards has been a WV resident since September 2008. She was born and raised in Fairfield County, Connecticut, and is no stranger to hard work and the entrepreneurial spirit. In 2006, she graduated from Quinnipiac University (Hamden, Connecticut), Cum Laude, with a B.A. in History. In 2010, she graduated with an M.B.A. from Liberty University (Lynchburg, Virginia). In February 2012, Christina launched HashtagWV as the area’s first full-color, free arts and entertainment tabloid + online platform. Christina completed the Leadership West Virginia class of 2021, which is an innovative program that grows, engages, and mobilizes leaders to ignite a life passion to move West Virginia forward.