Belize Chocolate Festival

The Belize Chocolate Festival is a (3) day festival (that started in 2007), and slowly started becoming one of the most exciting food festivals in the world. The festival takes place in the Toldeo District (typically during the month of May), in the southern tip of Belize. Local growers enjoy showing off their premium products while getting a chance to promote the natural beauty of Toledo District which has long been overlooked by some tourists. All workers at the fair are local volunteers eager to show off their heritage and culture while welcoming visitors to the agricultural products and unspoiled natural landscapes in Toledo District.

Agenda & Schedule of Activities
Day 1 - Wine & Chocolate Tasting | Tour Chocolate Farms
Day 2 - Taste of Toledo | Street Fair at Front Street (full day)
Day 3 - Grand Finale | Archaeological Reserve (full day)

Is Transportation provided? No
How can we get to the Chocolate Festival? Private vehicle, aircraft, car rental, charters, shuttles, public transportation, taxi, or hitch-hiking.

Contact & Location Information
Email: [email protected]
Contact Number: +501-722-2531
Location Information: www.facebook.com/BelizeChocolateFestival
Venue: Punta Gorda Town, Toledo, Belize

Started in 2007 by a group of local cacao farmers and chocolate manufacturers, the Belize Chocolate Festival, or the Toledo Cacao Festival, in Southern Belize celebrates the Maya culture through traditional Maya Chocolate along with other chocolate-related products from local farmers and manufacturers. Belize’s Toledo District is world-renowned for having some of the finest quality cocoa in the international market. The Belize Chocolate Festival was conceptualized for local cacao farmers and chocolate manufacturing businesses to showcase their premium cacao, cacao-products, chocolates and chocolate drinks. Since then, this Chocolate Festival has become popular to locals and travelers. Many would travel far and wide to be able to experience all things chocolate on this three-day event. Along with consuming indulgent chocolate and chocolate products, this festival is also a great opportunity for visitors to learn about the Maya Culture through cultural presentations, dancing lessons, and traditional Maya chocolate-making demonstrations.

This is a three day festival, is held in the Toledo District (of Belize), and celebrates miraculous chocolate foods in all forms. Here local farmers showcase their finest chocolates, wines, candies, syrups, in between hosting trips to the cacao farms and dancing the night away as local musicians fill the air with the sweet sounds of their indigenous heritage.

The cacao fruit, the seeds of which produce the world-famous food known as chocolate, is a local plant originally from Central America, and Belize’s Toledo District is renowned for having some of the best cacao in the world. Alongside a mind-boggling array of chocolate desserts and treats, the festival will feature other chocolate flavored products like chocolate beer, chocolate barbecue, and chocolate soap.

The town of Punta Gorda, capital of the Toledo District, hosts a lively street fair during the three-day festival with plenty of live music, arts and crafts, games and activities for children, and a wide range of cultural displays from the region’s rich blend of indigenous peoples.

Known around the world as a superfood, chocolate in its pure raw form is extremely high in antioxidants as well as essential minerals like copper, manganese and iron. Chocolate was considered the elixir of life by the ancient Maya and the king was reputed to have drunk up to 50 cups a day of chocolate.

Why is the Chocolate Festival held?
The festival is held mainly to showcase Belizean products. Everything is handmade in Belize by our locals, so this gives many a chance to show other Belizeans and tourists their amazing products. Cacao itself is high in antioxidants and other important minerals, so not only are these products organic and good to eat, some of them can be used to enhance your skin.

What Happens on the Festival Days?
First Day (Saturday) - The festival is held on a Saturday in Punta Gorda Town. Here you will find many stalls and exhibits; being that the town is so small you'll be able to walk short distances to get around to each display. The PG phase of the festival is filled with music, cultural drumming, food, partying and even dance classes!
Second Day (Sunday) - Is when everyone packs up their stalls and moves to an archeolgoical site (Lubaantun or Nim Li Punit), which are small Maya Ruins located in Toledo. At this place, you'll find even more stalls selling Belizean chocolates, chocolate deserts, chocolate stout, chocolate-infused cocktails and much more. Attending this event is a great way to learn about the Maya culture and experience the amazing foods in Belize.
Third Day (Monday) - The last day of the festival features a Grand Finale featuring different musical groups competing to be crowned the grand prize winner. For the kids, there are face-painting, puppet shows, and jewelry-making activities.

Why Should You Attend the Chocolate Festival in Belize?
The entire weekend will be filled with activities and entertainment. Each year the Chocolate Festival is filled with fun activities, cultural presentations, (and of course), chocolate! Many travel to Punta Gorda to enjoy Chocolate Fest's educational and indulgent three-day event that features locally produced cacao, chocolate products and chocolate inspired dishes for a bargain. Cacao (the key ingredient in chocolate) is indigenous to the Americas, and Belize’s Toledo District is world-renowned for having some of the finest quality cacao anywhere. Beside traditional chocolate desserts, the festival features everything from chocolate beer to chocolate soap. The festival also coincides with a large street fair with plenty of music, cultural displays, and exhibitions to entertain the whole family.

3-Day Chocolate Festival

The Toledo Cacao Festival In Southern Belize
Wanting to showcase the superior quality of their local cacao, various chocolate manufacturers and cacao farmers in the Toledo District of Belize gathered together in 2007 to form the first Chocolate Festival. Now in its eleventh year, the Chocolate Festival has blossomed into a three-day event featuring local foods, wines, trips to cacao farms and a musical competition celebrating the area’s indigenous heritage.

Chocolate Festival Highlights

Cacoa Products, Genuine Maya Chocolate, Maya Cocoa
Tours of the Cacao Farms
Live music, Drumming
Fun Competitions
Belize Cuisine, Barbecue, Belikin Beer
Belize and Maya Art
Dancing Lessons, Cultural Presentations, Chocolate-making Process Presentation, Commercial Exhibits
Nim Li Punit (or) Lubaantun Archaeological Site

When is the Chocolate Festival Held?
The Chocolate Festival will be held in May of each year, in the town of Punta Gorda in Toledo District.

Best Way to Experience the Chocolate Festival
Be sure to arrive hungry as there are dozens of different chocolate-themed dishes and other delicacies on offer during the festival. The festival also showcases key elements of the local culture, including the Maya and Garifuna cultures, mixing music and food for a truly special experience. Along with all of the chocolate, be sure to save room for fine wine and a special Chocolate Stout beer.

Where is the Chocolate Festival Located?
The festival is held in the town of Punta Gorda located in Belize’s southernmost District of Toledo.

How Do I Get to the Chocolate Festival?
Domestic flights via Tropic Air and Maya Air connect Punta Gorda with the rest of the country. Inter-city buses and cars follow the Southern Highway to arrive in Punta Gorda. From Guatemala, water taxis connect Puerto Barrios and Livingston to Punta Gorda.

FIRST DAY - Besides all the food and chocolate-related items, the festival is also a great chance to take a tour of nearby cacao plantations as well as kayak or canoe down local rivers to experience the pristine natural beauty of the Toledo District.
SECOND DAY - The festival features a street fair in Punta Gorda with art displays, music, and a wide variety of local foods.
THIRD DAY - The last day of the festival features a Grand Finale featuring different musical groups competing to be crowned the grand prize winner. For the kids, there are face-painting, puppet shows, and jewelry-making activities.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q-How can I get to the Belize Chocolate Festival?

Private Vehicle: If you own a vehicle or has access to a private vehicle and have a valid driver’s license, you can drive to the Chocolate Festival in Punta Gorda. This is the easiest and most recommended option for transportation.
Aircraft: There are domestic flights to Punta Gorda (PG) available via Tropic Air and Maya Island Air. With Maya Island Air, flights to PG are available through the Belize International Airport (BZE), Belize Municipal Airport (TZA), Savanna (INB), Dangriga (DGA), and Placencia (PLJ). If you would like to view the Maya Island Air flights schedule, visit http://www.mayaislandair.com/belize-flight-schedule. With Tropic Air, flights to PG are available through the Belize International Airport (BZE), Belize Municipal Airport (TZA), Dangriga (DGA), and Placencia (PLJ).
Rentals/Charters/Shuttles: If you would like to drive or be driven directly to the Chocolate Festival, you can rent a vehicle (make sure you have a valid driver’s license) or request a charter or shuttle to transport you to Punta Gorda Town.
Public Transportation (Buses):
1. On the mainland, buses can take you anywhere along the highways. Getting on a bus would require you to go to the town’s bus terminals or wait at a bus stop on the main road. If you are staying north of the country (Corozal or Orange Walk), you would have to take a bus to Belize City, (if you are residing in Belize City, then take a direct bus to Punta Gorda), then a connecting bus to Punta Gorda Town. If you are in western Belize (Benque Viejo del Carmen, Succotz, San Ignacio/Santa Elena Town, or other nearby villages) you would need to take a bus to Belmopan City and a connecting bus to Punta Gorda Town. Those living south of the country (Dangriga, Hopkins, or other nearby locations) take a bus to Punta Gorda town. Bus fares depend on where you are taking the bus and where you are stopping and whether if it is a regular bus or an express bus (non-stop). It should range from $2 BZD to $25 BZD.
2. If you are staying at one of the islands, there are water taxis available that travel to and from Ambergris Caye, Caye Caulker, Belize City and Corozal. Water taxis should take you from the island to Belize City. Fares usually depend on which island you are at and whether if it is a one-way or round trip ticket. Upon arrival at Belize City, you can take a taxi (recommended) or walk to the bus terminal and get on a bus to Punta Gorda Town.
Taxi: This option is quite costly if you are planning on taking a taxi cab to the Chocolate Festival. If you are staying in Punta Gorda Town or somewhere near Punat Gorda Town, this option is recommended; however, taxi fares would depend on the distance traveled.
Hitch-hiking: When all else fails, and you really want to make it to the festival, you can stand at the roadside of a highway and catch a ride with someone who’s going to the direction of Punta Gorda Town. For safety and other reasons, this is not 100% recommended. The Chocolate Festival is a three-day event; so, if you missed the bus or can’t find a way to make it the first day or second day, you can always make it the following day.

Q-Will I be able to use my credit card to purchase food and items?
A-No, this is a cash-only event.
Q-Will there be an entrance fee?
A-Yes, tickets for the Chocolate Festival are available for purchase by the Toledo BTIA Chapter. The cost of these tickets are $60 BZD. The tickets include: 3 glasses of wine, rum bar, chocolate samples, door prize, & appetizers.

History of Chocolate

For many decades archaeologists have meticulously studied the Maya Civilization. But as they continue their endless probe on how such talented people once lived, they have unraveled a wealth of information on their religion, ceremonial offerings, customs and traditions, including chocolate - a popular drink, much venerated by the Mayas, and now much loved by modern generations.

Chocolate, a name derived from the Maya word Xocoatl, was revered as a favored food of the Mayan gods during the golden age of the Maya Civilization in Belize in 500 BC. The Maya, once the world’s most advanced horticulturists, cultivated cocoa beans that were used throughout Mesoamerica as money.

Chocolate is probably best known in solid bar form, but it wasn’t always this way. For more than 90% of its history, chocolate was consumed only as a beverage. Chocolate consumption dates back to the Classic Period of the Ancient Maya of Mexico and Central America (250 -900 BC). The Maya made it into a spicy drink, which they used in ceremonies. A particular favorite of Maya kings and priests, chocolate played a special part in royal and religious ceremonies. At sacred altars, Maya priests presented cocoa seeds as offerings to the gods and prepared chocolate as a drink for special religious ceremonies. When Maya aristocrats served chocolate drinks, they used lavishly decorated vessels made by specially trained artists.

The Maya were part of a trade network that extended well beyond the territory they occupied. Maya lands covered parts of southern Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, and Western Honduras. Long after the height of their political power, during the later Maya Post Classic Period (AD 900-1519), the ancient Maya supplied cocoa to the Aztecs (AD 1428-1521) of central Mexico.

Among the ancient Maya, chocolate was enjoyed by the rich and elite class. Historians say that chocolate was also a special drink reserved only for wealthy Aztecs – merchants, priests, decorated warriors, or kings like the famous Montezuma. Because cocoa was so valuable, conquered people who lived in cocoa-growing areas often paid tribute with cocoa seeds, which could be used as money for shopping at the market. Customers paid with cocoa to purchase food, clothes, and even kitchen tools.

When Hernando Cortés led Spanish soldiers to the Aztec capital around 1519, he found storerooms packed with valuable cocoa seeds. In 1521, Spain defeated the Aztec and changed their way of life forever. Contact between the Spaniards and people of the Americas affected the rest of the world too. It opened a gateway for the exchange of ideas and technology, and a new market in Europe for foods like cocoa.

Not long after cocoa arrived in Europe, some added sugar, a sweetener unavailable to the Aztec and Maya. By early 1700s, sweetened chocolate had become a favorite of European upper classes. Like the elaborate ceramic vessels of the Maya and Aztec kings, Europeans used hand painted cups that were seen as symbols of wealth, for drinking chocolate. Chocolate houses of the 1600s and 1700s were gathering places for men to enjoy a hot drink, discuss politics and socialize, and gamble. As the demand for chocolate skyrocketed, so did the demand for sugar to sweeten it. Between the 1700s and 1888, keeping up with the increasing demand for sugar to sweeten chocolate required the labor of millions of people to tend, harvest, and process sugar cane.

Throughout the 16th century, most cocoa continued to be cultivated in the Pacific coastal zones of southern Mexico and Central America. This production depended upon local laborers until the population was drastically reduced by the spread of European diseases. But as the years have gone by many people still value the importance of chocolate. For indigenous communities in the southern part of Belize, the cultivation of cocoa beans has become their chief means of survival.

Chocolate of History in Belize
In the Toledo District of Belize, the organic cultivation of cocoa has become the most viable, economically friendly and long-term sustainable crop of Belize. With over 1,020 members, mostly from indigenous Maya villages, the Toledo Cocoa Growers Association has been cultivating organic cocoa, which is purchased by the UK’s Green and Blacks for the production of its award-winning Maya Gold chocolate bars. Belizean organic cocoa uses genetics which have been used in Belize for a thousand years. Its successful production throughout recent years was a good reason to celebrate the First Toledo Cocoa Festival on May 18th, 19th and 20th, 2007.

Chocolate has ambrosial qualities that stimulate a chemical reaction in the brain producing a feeling akin to when one first falls in love. Added to this sensory indulgence, chocolate contains over 300 different compounds that have a positive impact on beauty. Theobromine, a substance very similar to caffeine produces a slimming effect on the body; magnesium, potassium and calcium have a calming effect on the body therefore reducing stress; and polyphenols antioxidants thwart free radicals which are responsible for cell aging.