The third Portuguese edition of the Chocolat Festival will bring national and international stars to WOW from October 24 to 27. The event will feature lectures, show cooking, kids’ cooking, business opportunities, and plenty of tasting. Admission is free.
The Chocolat Festival Portugal 2024 aims to break records. After attracting more than 50,000 people last year, the event wants to expand its brand and increase both the number of visitors and business deals. Additionally, the festival offers a wealth of information with lectures on the cocoa and chocolate sector, workshops, show-cooking with mouthwatering chocolate recipes, kids cooking for children to enjoy, chocolate sculptures, and much tasting. Chocolat Portugal will take place from October 24 to 27 at WOW, in Vila Nova de Gaia, and entrance is free.
“Portugal is also my home, and we couldn’t leave it out of our calendar. Furthermore, the country is fundamental in the history of cocoa as it was responsible for bringing the fruit of the Gods to many countries. Thus, chocolate and Portugal have a historical relationship that few know about,” says Marco Lessa, CEO of Grupo M21 and creator of the Chocolat Festival.
As the largest chocolate and cocoa event in Latin America and one of the largest in the world, the Chocolat Festival has drawn over 1.5 million visitors across 39 editions. Since its inception in 2019, aimed at promoting cocoa culture, more than 350 Brazilian bean-to-bar chocolate brands have emerged.
In Portugal, hosting its third edition of the event, a sensory tunnel awaits visitors at the entrance, mimicking a cocoa plantation. Throughout the event, Chef Leo Vilella will be sculpting an incredible chocolate sculpture weighing over 200kg of pure chocolate.
Great chefs will teach sweet and savoury recipes with cocoa and chocolate
Portuguese chef Helder Fernandes, from Wow, will teach a meringue called “Chocolate & Hazelnut.” Brazilian chef Mirna Gomes, from Palacete Severo in Porto, will teach a mushroom sauce with chocolate. Natacha Fink from the Amazonian restaurant Palaphita in Cascais promises a recipe with chocolate and Port wine. Meanwhile, Carolina Sales, owner of the trendy café in Oeiras that bears her name, will share some secrets of her famous brigadeiros. A major revelation in Argentine pastry, chef Mariana Corbetta will present the recipe for her sought-after alfajores at the festival.
In the lectures, national and international experts will discuss chocolate and cocoa. Among them are Portuguese Pedro Araújo, creator of The Chocolat Story Museum, and Fabia Ribeiro from VinteVinte, Costa Rican Maria Jimenez, British Spencer Hyman, French Vincent Ferreira and Chloé Doutre, and Spanish Raquel Gonzalez Setién, co-founder of Kaitxo.
At the chocolate fair, the world will be represented by brands from Brazil, Portugal, France, Ecuador, Italy, Spain, Japan, Madagascar, Belgium, São Tomé and Príncipe, among others.
Alongside the Chocolat Festival, WOW will host the Origem Brasil business event, in partnership with CNI, aiming to strengthen the commercial relationship between Brazil and Portugal. More than a dozen buyers from various parts of Europe will attend the event to do business with Brazilian and Portuguese producers in various commercial areas, accompanied by gastronomy and a fashion show to showcase some fabrics and products from the countries.
The event opens its doors on October 24 from 6 PM to 10 PM. For the next three days, the event will run from 2 PM to 10 PM. Admission is free.
The Chocolat Festival is organized by MVU, Casa Brasiliana, in partnership with the Government of the State of Pará, the Government of the State of Bahia, and WOW.
ABOUT MARCO LESSA
Entrepreneur, businessman, and dreamer, Marco Lessa was born in Guanambi, in the hinterlands of Bahia, and found his purpose in Ilhéus. The memory of the aroma of chocolate coming from the cocoa mills; producing the soap opera “Renascer” for TV Globo; getting to know the reality of local producers; and believing in the potential for economic and social development in Southern Bahia shaped his heart into the form of cocoa and awakened the desire to help transform society.
Marco built and consolidated his career as an advertiser, event promoter, and tourism booster in Ilhéus when he decided to create a platform to reclaim the historical strength of Brazil’s most important cocoa-producing region. This led to the creation of the Chocolat Festival in 2009, which has become the largest and most relevant chocolate and cocoa event in the country and has also reached France and Portugal. Today, he is the CEO of Grupo M21, a private Brazilian multiplatform organization that operates in the event and communication markets.
SERVICE
- Chocolat Festival Portugal
- When: October 24 to 27
- October 24 – from 6 PM to 10 PM
- October 25, 26, and 27 – from 2 PM to 10 PM
- Where: WOW – World of Wine
- Address: Rua do Choupelo, 39 – Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal
- Free admission
Always confirm with the concert hall or promoter the conditions of access, confirmation of the date or time, ticket place of sale, price, and availability.
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