Chocolate Festival

What is the West Coast Chocolate Festival?
The West Coast Chocolate Festival—first launched in 2002— is a unique and innovative collection of individual events occurring throughout the TriCity area of Coquitlam, Port Moody and Port Coquitlam. Our various high calibre chocolate-themed adult and all-ages events celebrate the magic of chocolate and appeal to the senses and the soul, attracting guests from surrounding cities, the BC Lower Mainland and beyond. With chocolate as a powerful draw, we leverage events to bring people of all ages and cultures together as well as aim to raise awareness about proper consumption and the lesser-known positive benefits of the incredibly appealing food.

What is the goal of the festival?
The festival thrives upon a passion for empowering youth through mentorship initiatives by providing positions for students in various festival projects, which cover a wide variety of areas of study.
Mission Statement — Initially our goal was to raise funds for youth arts projects in the TriCities. However, by 2005 it was clear our true mission was creating mentored work experiences, and so our mission became:
To inspire and entertain through events that celebrate the magic of chocolate and appeal to the senses and the soul, and to facilitate mentored festival work experiences for youth, as well as creating presentation opportunities for emerging artists and performers.

When does the festival take place?
The West Coast Chocolate Festival ran annually until 2008 when we decided to take a one-year break to restructure and reintroduce the festival in 2009 with new and exciting events. In the past, the festival has typically taken place for a five-day period in the month of October, after Thanksgiving and before Halloween; however, the timeline remains quite flexible.