Calgary hot chocolate festival returns in Feb with more than 100 participants

The Bullet Coffee House's Birthday Bliss hot chocolate (left) and Snowcapz Cafe's Honeycomb S'mores & Oreo S’mores hot chocolates (right).

More than 100 different specialty hot chocolates will be sold throughout Calgary next month as part of a charitable competition dubbed YYC Hot Chocolate Fest.

The annual event sees cafés and restaurants sell innovative hot chocolates, some boozy and some not, for all of February, with a portion of the sales donated to Calgary Meals on Wheels.

There are even dairy-free, gluten-free and vegan hot chocolates available.

Officials say 2023 marked the most successful year yet, with more than 70,000 hot chocolates sold and some $100,000 raised for the charity.

After the event wraps up at the end of February, awards will be handed out for the city's best hot chocolates.

Last year, the winners were:

This year, participating vendors include:

For more information on the type of hot chocolate each location is selling, you can visit the YYC Hot Chocolate Fest website.