WASHINGTON — With Valentine鈥檚 Day only a week away, the chocolate season is upon us.聽 This weekend, chocoholics are descending on the City of Fairfax.
鈥淭he smell chocolate overwhelms you,鈥� says Beverly Meyers with the .
She says the festival began in 1993 as a way draw people into the city during the winter.
The entire weekend is dedicated to chocolate. One of the events, the 鈥淭aste of Chocolate,鈥� kicked off at 10 a.m. Saturday. The festival continues on Sunday at noon, and runs until 4 p.m.
On Saturday morning, people were standing in a line stretching around the block, waiting for the doors of the city鈥檚 Old Town Hall to open. Two floors of the hall are filled with chocolate vendors.
Meyers says this is what happens when you walk in the door: 鈥淸You] see every kind of chocolate delicacy that you can think of.鈥�
Doug Worthington and his wife, who are from Annandale, are repeat customers of the 鈥淭aste of Chocolate.鈥� He says they have been coming for the past 10 or 12 years, and they were one of first visitors into this temporarily luscious land of chocolate on Saturday.
鈥淚t did just open but it鈥檒l be very crowded by about noon and we want to get in before it all runs out,鈥� Worthington explained. 鈥淭here are special chocolates and confection items that they only make for the Chocolate Lovers Festival.鈥�
One of the other big events this weekend is the 鈥淐hocolate Challenge.鈥� Professionals and amateurs compete to see who can create the best chocolate sculptures, as well as cakes and cupcakes.聽 It鈥檚 like an edible art gallery.
The challenge is sponsored by George Mason University Department of Nutrition and Food Services.
鈥淲e actually have folks who come down from Hershey, Pennsylvania to this event yearly because they say there鈥檚 nothing like this in Hersey,鈥� Meyers says.
Meyers is chairman of the that sponsors the Chocolate Festival.
