10 EVENT REVIEW The Chocolate Festival
Mention the words Chocolate and Festival and I instantly imagine Willy Wonka-ness; chocolate waterfalls and the like. Now in reality I know that Southbank’s Chocolate Festival couldn’t transform the Thames into a river of chocolate nor would there be singing umpaloompas but still the mind can dream.
We’d chosen a particularly chill- some day to check out the festival, so were looking forward to gorging on chocolate, be it hot or otherwise. The Winter Festival had drawn major crowds that Saturday I’d never seen Southbank so buzzing. The Christmas market looked like V Festival - a sea of people. And the Chocolate Festival, though set behind Royal Festival Hall was just as busy. Only serious choc- aholic devotees would dare enter, thankfully my crew and I were up to the task!
Deep into the breach we went, surprisingly, it was the cupcake stand Crumbs and Doilies that tempted our first stop. Festooned in adorable festive themed mini cupcakes our mouths watered only to be sorely disappointed. Unfortunately there were no samples to be had. This ultimately was the major let down for me as it was the case at many of the stands. For those that did offer free samples the portions were the tiniest morsels, you could barely taste the milk let alone cocoa. Chocolate is all about the tasting and the sensation you get from it. To have stands laid out with all sorts of exotic flavours but not be able to try them… excruciating for any choc-aholic!!
The Christmas market looked like V Festival - a sea of people. And the Chocolate Festival, though set behind Royal Festival Hall was just as busy. Only serious choc-aholic devotees would dare enter, thankfully my crew and I were up to the task!
A couple of hours later, and with the festival getting overly crowded, hunger and warmth won out - we headed to the nearest pub with not a cube nor mound of chocolate passing our lips. Well apart from the chocolate beer my companions tried, but that tasted like liquorice so doesn’t count!
If the intent is to wile away a few hours trying out chocolate and generally getting that warm fuzzy Christmas feeling I’d say this isn’t quite for you. If however you’re in search of a delectable chocolate Christmas gift set or two then definitely head on down to the Festival next year. There were some fantastic Chocolatiers to choose from including our fave;
The Chocolatier as well new finds Philip Maes Fine Chocolates and Simply Handmade Chocolates. Plus my two HOT discoveries Chocolate Ecstasy Tours (flyer stated “lots of chocolate sampling”) and the Clapham based pâtisserie On Cafe’s Macaron classes. Hurrah! The trip to the Chocolate Festival was worthwhile after all!!
http://ticketing.southbankcentre.
co.uk/winter-festival www.the-chocolatier.co.uk www.philipmaesfinechocolates.com www.chocolateecstasytours.com www.oncafe.co.uk
• Words: Enam G Images: Southbank Centre
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