Annual expo returns to Manchester
Tickets are on sale online for the annual Chocolate Expo in Manchester, happening Oct. 11.
“This is Year 4 for the Chocolate Expo in Manchester,” said Cristy Bergeron-Charest, “but this is our 20th year of producing events.” Bergeron-Charest works for Baum Image Group, the company that puts on the Expo.
She said that after so many years of staging events her company has learned that an important aspect of staging an expo for something as popular as chocolate is providing something for everybody.
Many of the people who attend chocolate expos just love chocolate, she said, and want to learn about new chocolate products.
“New Hampshire favorite Van Otis Chocolates is joining us this year, and Loon Chocolate as well, but we also have a lot of vendors that are coming up from New York and Long Island as well joining us. We have [French macaron maker] Mariela’s Bakery, which is coming up from Rhode Island. We have a vegan and dairy-free chocolatier, [but] we’ve got Bacon Bites, who has been on Food Network, and he has dark chocolate-covered bacon, milk chocolate-covered bacon. He’s got some great pairings with bacon and chocolate that you would never think go together. We have Vivilicious, which is coming up from Massachusetts, and she has Brazilian chocolate, beautiful truffles, delicious truffles. Worldwide Chocolate is our sponsor; they’re out of Rochester, New Hampshire, and they provide chocolate from around the world. But you have small businesses. La Nef out of Maine; her chocolate wrappers have a digital downloadable MP3 — you can digitally download their music from their chocolate wrappers.”
Other chocolate fans are interested in the technical side of chocolate making, Bergeron-Charest said.
“For the Chocolate Expo,” she said, “we’re always interested in the new trends, and trends are changing for sure. And we find that sourcing your chocolate locally is one of them. We have some chocolate makers that actually have chocolates made in Paris that come to the Chocolate Expo. These are chocolates you’re not going to find everywhere else. And they’ll tell you how it’s sourced. They’ll tell you the process of turning beans into bars. Loon Chocolate is very informative. He actually takes the stage at our Chocolate Expo event and he tells you about making chocolate from global to local. He’ll take the stage and guests can ask questions and ask, ‘How is this chocolate made? Where do you source it from?’ Companies like Villakuyaya, who joins us, all of her chocolate is sourced in Ecuador. Vivilicious, her chocolates for her tasty bonbons are actually sourced in Brazil. So we’re finding that people really are liking that, you know, instead of going to a store and just buying chocolate off the shelf. Our guests are loving that you get to sit there and buy a chocolate from a chocolate maker that’s at the event that two days before made their chocolate themselves.”
Other people come to enjoy the spectacle, Bergeron-Charest said. “We have the cast from the movie The Sandlot from the ’90s, and they’re coming, meeting fans, signing autographs, and then you get to sample chocolate. There’s an 11-pound chocolate-smash; volunteers are called upon to come up on stage and smash it open and then share it with the audience. We have a balloon scavenger hunt for kids. We have a world-renowned balloon twister who has larger-than-life balloon sculptures. And our guests can take photos with the balloon sculptures — they’re 10, 12 feet tall.”
The Chocolate Expo
Where: DoubleTree Expo Center, 700 Elm St., Manchester
When: Sunday, Oct. 11, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Tickets: Timed-entry tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for children 5-12. Children under 5 are free. Online “Late-Day Special” tickets are $10 per person, for admission after 4 p.m. Online only VIP tickets are $30 for adults and $15 for children, which includes early preview admission at 9 a.m., plus priority admission at any time. Tickets at the door are $30 for adults, and $15 for children. Visit thechocolateexpo.com/nh-doubletree-expo-center-tickets.
More: A list of vendors is available at thechocolateexpo.com/vendors-new-hampshire.
Featured photo: Courtesy photo.