Chocolate Lovers Unite! Each year on the first full weekend of February, the City of Fairfax celebrates all things chocolate at their popular event, The Chocolate Lovers Festival. This is a fun, family-friendly event with various activities held in locations in downtown Fairfax City including the City of Fairfax Regional Library, Fire Station 3, Old Town Hall, and the Historic Fairfax Courthouse.

Each year, the Chocolate Lovers Festival Committee chooses a charitable organization(s) to donate a portion of the event’s proceeds to. This year the recipients are Northern Virginia Therapeutic Riding Program, Fairfax Law Foundation – Northern Virginia Pro Bono Law Center and City of Fairfax Band Association.

The dates of this year’s festival are February 1-3, 2019. The festival kicks off Friday night, Feb. 1, with Liquid Chocolate, where you can sample different types of chocolate soda, chocolate wine, chocolate beer, hot chocolate, desert wine pairings, chocolate milk and more! This will be held in a heated tent at Old Town Square in downtown Fairfax City from 6pm to 8pm.  Admission is free; Alcohol Tasting is $2; Non Alcohol Tasting is $1.

Stop by Fire Station #3 (4081 University Drive) Saturday, Feb. 2, where the Kiwanis Club of Fairfax will be hosting BBQ Lunch & Ice Cream Sundaes from 11am to 3pm and a craft show from 9am to 3pm.  The Taste of Chocolate event will be held at Old Town Hall on Saturday Feb. 2 from 10am to 5pm and Sunday Feb. 3 from 12pm to 4pm. Here you can shop from a large number of local vendors selling their chocolate products. Admission to Taste of Chocolate is free to view. In order to taste/purchase items, you must purchase Pogs, which can be traded for merchandise. Pogs are $1 each, and can be purchased with cash or credit card at Old Town Hall.

There are many other events and activities to enjoy in Fairfax during the festival. Enter your cake/artistic creation in the 2019 Chocolate Lovers Festival Chocolate Challenge. Tour some of the historic properties including the Legato school, the Ford House, the Ratcliffe-Allison-Pozer House, the historic Fairfax Courthouse and the Fairfax Museum and Visitors Center.

There will be a cake walk at Old Town Square. Children’s shows will be held at the City of Fairfax Regional Library. Stop by Twin’s Ace Hardware and Construct A Cupcake and help raise money for the National
Children’s Medical Center.

For more details and a complete schedule of events, please visit www.chocolatefestival.net.