The 8th Chocolate Festival is over

The 8th Radovljica Chocolate Festival has been and gone and, despite the less-than promising weather forcast, it turns out that chocolate really does release happy hormones and brings a smile to faces. And the good luck even extended to the rain, which mostly held off. The festival organisers and the exhibitors were equally satisfied with the turnout.

Chocolate and chocolate desserts were at the forefront of the three-day festival, together with the diverse entertainment programme across all the festival's locations. The new additions to the programme were well received, which was reflected in the amount of interest and satisfied faces. There was also a lot of interest in the three chocolates that were chosen as winners by the professional jury, while the Karst praline chocolate, made by the Rustika chocolatier, was pronounced the winning chocolate as chosen by visitors to the festival. Congratulations!

The 'chocolate sofa' on the mini-roundabout at the entrance to Radovljica's old town centre is a reminder of the festival, and it will remain in place for the foreseeable. The wooden sofa was skillfully crafted by Miro Rismondo and sponsored by the company Lesnina. The Radovljica Beekeeping Adventure premiered at the festival, which Tourism Radol'ca created in collaboration with Pagon Sport, and from May onwards families will be able to enjoy this special adventure through Radovljica.

Proof that the Radovljica Chocolate Festival is the only real chocolate festival of its kind in Slovenia was witnessed not only by the amount of chocolate on offer but also by the numbers of both domestic and foreign visitors. Over the three days of the event, huge numbers of visitors came to the festival from throughout Slovenia, as well as organised groups from Croatia, Austria, Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia, as well as a lot of other foreign visitors who were holidaying in Slovenia at the time. A new feature of this year's festival was a shuttle bus service from Bled that was organised together with Bled Tourist Board, and which was well used throughout the weekend.

The popularity of the festival was also recognised by the sponsors, who added their own contributions. The Municipality of Radovljica has been a supporter of the festival since its inception, whilst this year the main sponsors were: Zavarovalnica Triglav, ASP Lesce, Komunala Radovljica, Skaza, Lesnina XXXL, Tiskarna Medium, Gorenjka and Skupina Elektro Gorenjska. Tourism Radol'ca would like to take this opportunity to thank all the sponsors and all those who helped in the organisation of the festival. 

The quality of the products on offer from small, mainly family-run, chocolatiers plays a key role in the success of the festival, together with the entertainers and, of course, the visitors.

The 9th Radovljica Chocolate Festival will take place from 17th-19th April 2019. Until then, we invite you to enjoy the other sweet treats and experiences to be found in Radovljica and its surroundings!