The 20th annual Chocolate Festival was held Feb. 4 and 5 at the Crystal Coast Civic Center in Morehead City. The sign for the event was donated by a local franchise of Card My Yard.
MOREHEAD CITY - Sweet tooths and chocolate enthusiasts had a treat this weekend at the 20th annual Chocolate Festival at the Crystal Coast Civic Center in Morehead City.
The festival attracted more than 5,000 visitors who were eager to be part of the delicious celebration, according to event coordinator Judy Hailey.
"The outpouring this year has been just great," Hailey said. "Normally we have to go hunt and recruit bakers and vendors, but this year they just came automatically."
Hailey attributed the large turnout to an increased push on social media, along with several days of rainy weather that spurred people who were eager to get outside when it cleared.
The festival featured a cake auction, a 50/50 raffle, door prizes and several chocolate-themed activities.
One of the highlights of the festival was the hourly pudding eating contest, where participants of all ages raced each other to clean their plate of pudding without using their hands.
On Sunday, members of the military and their families were invited to attend free of charge.
Visitors had ample opportunity to browse and purchase delectable treats from local chocolatiers and confectioners while indulging in a variety of chocolate-infused dishes from food vendors.
From artisanal truffles to cocoa-based cracker dips, there was something for everyone to try.
Attendees Joe and Sheri Fountain of Hubert explained the festival is something they look forward to every year.
"Mainly we come here for the chocolate-covered bacon, but my wife also has this thing for the wine slushie," Joe Fountain said. "The kids are also enjoying it, minus the pudding eating contest. We couldn't get them to get on stage."
Mary Roundtree, owner of That's Good Chocolate! travelled several hours from the Raleigh area with friends and family to set up her booth at the festival.
After retiring as a nurse at an early age because of a heart condition, Roundtree took up making chocolate treats with encouragement from her children.
"We have some different things, regular pecan toffee, spiced latte toffee, strawberry toffee, banana pudding toffee, milk chocolate rocky road, dark chocolate rocky road, pecan turtles and chocolate cake," Roundtree said. "So far it's going well. It takes a couple weeks to prepare, and we were exhausted last night."
Another vendor, veteran dessert-maker Kathy Klee, said she has been in the sweets business for 30 years. She has attended the chocolate festival selling items every year during the past two decades.
On Sunday, Klee was seen with a collection of her best-selling items: freeze-dried candy, cheesecakes and dips.
"The festival has grown over the years, with good years and bad years, but it has definitely grown," Klee said. "This year has been great so far."
The event began 20 years ago thanks to local resident John Green who lived in the area with his chocolate-loving wife Marleene.
Green wanted to do something to give back to the town and came up with the idea for the festival.
"All of the community leaders he went to for support said it will never work, no one would ever come," said coordinator Hailey. "Here we are 20 years later with more than $600,000 donated back to the community."
Proceeds from this year's festival will be used to support two charitable organizations: Bread and Barley Church of Newport and the Elysian Players performing arts group.
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