The southern state of Tabasco is set to host the 13th edition of the Festival del Chocolate, a massive event celebrating chocolate through cultural and culinary activities for both children and adults.
Happening from Nov. 14 to 17, the event will take place at the Parque Tabasco in the capital city of Villahermosa. Last year, the festival attracted more than 100,000 visitors, according to government estimates.
“This festival will showcase the best of our land, our cocoa and our gastronomy,” Katia Ornelas Gil, head of the Economic Development and Competitiveness Ministry of Tabasco said in a press conference.
The event’s guest of honor will be the Organización del Mundo Maya (Maya World Organization), made up of countries with Maya heritage including Honduras, Guatemala and the Mexican states of Quintana Roo, Yucatán, Campeche, Tabasco and Chiapas. These countries and states will showcase their tourist destinations, cocoa products and culinary traditions. Representatives of these regions will also participate as judges in cultural competitions, and as conference speakers.
Overall, the event will host some 400 exhibitors and 200 cocoa producers, including chocolatiers, cocoa growers, traditional cooks and representatives of artisanal gastronomy, which will offer tastings, workshops, musical performances and pairings related to cocoa.
The festival will also gather chef celebrities like José Ramón Castillo, regarded as Mexico’s best chocolatier, Alana Literas, winner of Mexican cooking series like MasterChef Junior and Top Chef VIP, and Mariano Sandoval, chef of Televisa’s morning program “Hoy,” among others.
Beyond chocolate, attendees will see presentations of wines and craft beers that enhance the sensory experience of cocoa.
The event will also host three self-service stores and 15 buyers and producers of cocoa to boost chocolate commercialization.
The National System for the Comprehensive Development of Families (DIF) will organize activities for children to promote knowledge of cocoa. These include painting competitions using chocolate, photography events and a painting exhibition.
For the first time, this year’s edition will host a race at the fairgrounds.
Chocolate is deeply rooted in Mexico’s culture. From the Mayan Nahuatl “xocolatl” or “chicolatl,” pre-Columbian civilizations revered chocolate as a gift from the gods. They consumed it as a hot or cold beverage, used cacao beans as currency and considered it an aphrodisiac.
But despite being the birthplace of cacao, Mexico is not amongst the world’s top producers. According to official figures, Mexico produced over 28,000 tonnes of cacao in 2022, coming in as the 14th largest producer worldwide.
Tabasco, Guerrero and Chiapas are Mexico’s top producers of cacao.
