New digs but same great taste for chocolate festival

Posted by Press Release on January 13, 2020

The annual Chocolate Lovers Festival is coming Sunday, Jan. 26. This year, though, the event will be held at Unionville High School. While the location is changed, the festival still benefits the United Way of Southern Chester County.

United Way of Southern Chester County supports 22 health and human service programs in the area. But United Way needs your help to make this festival a success. Due to the rising attendance at the Festival each year, there is a growing need for more chocolate entry donations. This year, the goal is to have 300 chocolate entries to feed the hordes attending!

Contestants in the Festival compete in specific categories and there is no fee to enter. United Way is looking for entries from professionals, amateurs, and students. The five categories to enter are cakes, cupcakes, brownies, cookies and candies, all of which must have a chocolate component. You can opt to have your entry judged or not judged if you would rather just make a donation. All entries need to be registered online by Jan. 22. These entries can then be dropped off at Unionville High School’s gym on Saturday, Jan. 25, between 2 – 5 p.m. or Sunday, Jan. 26 between 7 and 10 a.m. To enter, go to www.KennettChocolate.org/entries .

“We couldn’t do this Festival without the support of bakers from our community,” said Carrie Freeman, CEO of United Way of Southern Chester County. “Well over 1,000 people attend, so chocolate donations are critical. We hope to raise $30,000 this year through tasting chocolate! And we thank our Platinum Sponsor, Brandywine Oak Private Wealth, for sponsoring the Festival this year.”

Tickets for general admission at 1 p.m. are still on sale at KennettChocolate.org and at the door. The festival has been a multi-year Best Desserts winner in the County Lines Best of the Best Contest.

Last year, more than 200 chocolate entries were judged and available for the public to taste. 2019 amateur first place winners were Patti Beauchesne, Lisa Gross, Joe Ambrosino, Roberta Carlson, and Sandra Speakman. They received a Corian cutting board and a $100 gift certificate to an area restaurant. Student first place winners for 2019 were Amanda Bell, Emma Schmidt, Kendall Rybarczyk and Sidney Brutscher. 2019 professional first place winners were Kelly Barboni, Sweet Caroline’s Cupcake Kitchen, and Country Butcher.

Another exciting chocolate addition is the ‘Year of Living Chocolate” raffle. For $10 or $20 for three tickets, you can be entered in a raffle to win a chocolate dessert monthly from different area bakers and chocolatiers starting with Country Butcher’s Bakery in March of 2020 and ending with Northbrook MarketPlace in February of 2021. You can pick up raffle tickets online at www.unitedwayscc.org/tickets, in person at the United Way offices, or at the Festival. The drawing will be held on Feb. 14.

UWSCC serves the residents of four school districts: Avon Grove, Kennett, Oxford, and Unionville-Chadds Ford. Over 18,000 people received support from UWSCC last year. For information, visit the Festival’s website: www.kennettchocolate.org.