Tag Archives: Chocolate

Big Island Chocolate Festival 2018

88 Views

When you think of Hawaii, images of clear blue water and flowing palm trees float in your mind. Well, move over blue Pacific and stunning white sand beaches, and be prepared to be impressed and immersed in agricultural gastronomy that will likely give the beaches pause, at least for two or three days.

Bougainvillea foliage at the Hapuna Prince Hotel

It’s the 2018 Big Island Chocolate Festival, April 27 & 28, and it is enormous and it is tasty. Really tasty. Set on the magical Kohala Coast of the Big Island of Hawaii, this is two-plus days of education, cooking demonstrations, community building, and oh yes, massive amounts of tasting.

I will confess that I like all the food festivals in Hawaii. However, this one is definitely the most organized and has the most to offer if you attend. From education to agriculture to tasting, it is all in this one festival. You can choose how many components to go to, and then take a beach break here and there. Be warned, the program and treats are so enticing, you should save your beach time for after the festival. The only thing that is missing is Willie Wonka.

Chocolate Cooking Demonstration

“Chocolate is produced worldwide, and each country is proud of the heritage it has brought to the industry,” says Kona Cacao Association President Farsheed Bonakdar. This year’s “Around the World” theme adds to the tastes and perspectives at the festival. Farsheed has added more flavors and emphasis from around the world to give the attendees the global chocolate experience.

Cacao pods just harvested at the Original Hawaiian Chocolate Factory.

Hawaii is just on the edge of the climate zone to grow cacao, the bean that becomes chocolate. It’s only natural that the Big Island, with the proclivity to coffee and agriculture, would sprout up with cacao. And, given the unique nature of the volcanic soil, the resultant chocolate has a unique taste. A primary focus of the first day is visiting the Original Hawaiian Chocolate Factory to get a hands-on view of the process from bean to bar.

Understand the chocolate process in Hawaii.

The second day contains culinary classes and demonstrations where you can actually get up close and personal with world-renown chocolatiers. The festival presents a chance for local chefs, both professional and those burgeoning from the high school ranks to create unique dishes with chocolate.

A Maui college competitor prepares their creation for the judges.

In this case, many of the recipes are appetizers or main dishes, not just deserts. And the high school chefs sometimes outduel the pros! These plates are presented at the BICF Gala, which benefits the local culinary programs on the Big Island.

Chocolate Fountain at the BICF Gala

And the locale is spiffalicious – the Westin Hapuna Beach Resort (formerly the Hapuna Prince), right on one of the best beaches in Hawaii. Many people make this a weeklong trip and include time front & back for water activities, golf, and general recharging. Staying at the HBR, which is undergoing a massive renovation and will emerge this Spring as The Westin Hapuna Beach Resort, allows you to walk to all the events except the cacao farm and plantation tours, so convenience rules.

View from the Westin Hapuna Beach Resort to Hapuna Beach

Unlike most of the other festivals, there are hotel and BICF event packages that let you dial up or down how you would like to see and attend. One doesn’t miss the Gala, big fun and some fantastic chocolate inspired dishes with funds going right back into local culinary programs. Best of all you get to taste all the creations.

View from the Hapuna Golf Course to Maui

 

If you needed just one more reason to get to the Big Island in 2018, the Big Island Chocolate Festival is the tastiest reason.

Big Island Chocolate Festival

64 Views

When you think of the Big Island of Hawai’i, you think of coffee. A different bean is taking hold in the largest agricultural district in Hawai’i and it’s chocolate.

 

Most people don’t need much of a reason to head to the Big Island, yet the 5th annual Big Island Chocolate Festival sweetens the reasons. If you love chocolate, then heading to the Kohala Coast May 13-14 will give you seminars and activities rich in the taste of chocolate.

 

This year’s festival will be extra hot as the festival coincides with the Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park Centennial. Culinary displays will be judged on how they best depict the event theme that includes the Kilauea and Mauna Loa volcanoes. Expect an anything-goes chocolate interpretation of biology, geology, and culture that defines the 333,086-acre national park.

 

And if that wasn’t enough focus on the lava of the cacao, culinary creations will also be jockeying for awards in many categories judged by a celebrity chefs including “best” bonbon, savory, bean-to-bar, plated dessert and Hawaiian cacao. Attendees can get in on the voting by casting a ballot for two People’s Choice Awards: Best Savory and Best Sweet. Also included in the two-day event are wines, handcrafted beers, chocolate body painting and continuous entertainment.

 

The two-day chocolate event features a cacao plantation tour at the Original Hawaiian Chocolate Factory, a college culinary competition and various public foodie and agriculture-themed seminars.

 

On Saturday, May 14 the event blasts off with a bevy of sweet and tasty culinary stations presented by top isle chefs, chocolatiers, and confectioners. Get upwardly mobile with the gala, including reserved table seating, chocolate inspired dishes paired with specialty wines.

 

While you can stay anywhere on the Kohala Coast, the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel is the host hotel, so special rates are in effect for attendees. You get a classic Hawaiian resort experience with golf, beaches and all you can do on the Big Island. Plus, two days of chocolate. Now that is a sweet vacation option.

 

The Festival

Big Island Chocolate Festival

Festival Schedule

Ticket Information

 

Home Base

Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel

Hapuna Prince Golf Course

Mauna Kea Golf Course

 

Activities

Volcanoes National Park

Natural Energy Lab

Hapuna Beach State Park

Kona Brewing Company