Norwich Chocolate Festival

27/10/2025

🎭✨ Lenny & the Last Rolo – Closing Cabaret!

Join us on Thursday 30 October at The Walnut Tree Shades, Norwich for the sparkling finale to Norwich Chocolate Festival Fortnight.
Expect laughter, music and cabaret magic as Steve Furst takes the stage as Lenny Beige – King of Cabaret, with DJ Vincent 1000 keeping the party going.

We’ll also be waving farewell to David Briceño, our visiting cocoa farmer from Colombia, as he prepares to take stories, solidarity and inspiration back home to Huila.

The title nods to Norwich’s own chocolate history — the Rolo was invented here in 1937! So as we hand out the last Rolo, we’re celebrating connection, creativity and cocoa community in true Chocolution style.

🎟️ Tickets support Join the Chocolution’s ongoing work with cocoa-growing communities.

👉 Book now – limited space! https://eventbrite.pulse.ly/pwx3mlszfy

23/10/2025

🚨 CHANGE OF VENUE!
Our Chocolate Market has moved from Carrow House to the beautiful St Giles House Hotel 🍫
Join us this Saturday 25 October (11 am–5 pm) in the Walnut Room for a smaller but beautifully formed Chocolate Drop-In — a relaxed day of free and low-cost activities celebrating cocoa and the people behind every bean.

🌿 Pod Openings 12 & 2 pm
🍫 Mini Tastings 12:30 | 13:30 | 14:30 | 15:30
🍸 Chocolate Cocktail Demo 4 pm
⭐ Meet the Cocoa Farmer (from Colombia)
☕ Hot Chocolate & Responsible Chocolate Sales
Free entry – just drop in!
Let’s learn, taste & celebrate chocolate together 💛

20/10/2025

20/10/2025

🍫 Global Cocoa Summit & Film Screening — The Forum, Norwich 🌍
This Tuesday, Norwich becomes part of a global conversation about chocolate — one that starts with the people who grow cocoa. Come to listen, learn, and be part of change.

🌱 Global Cocoa Summit — Tuesday 21 Oct
Doors 13:30 | Programme 13:45–17:15
📍 The Forum Auditorium, Norwich

Now FREE / donation-based (pay what you can).

Please come for all or part of the Summit to hear voices from cocoa-growing communities and join a practical discussion on what we, as consumers, can do together.
Hear from:
👨🏽‍🌾 David Briceño — third-generation cocoa farmer & agronomist, Huila, Colombia
🎬 Philippe Stalder — Swiss filmmaker, Reclaiming Cocoa
🇲🇬 Neil Kelsall — Chocolat Madagascar, on chocolate made at origin
🗣 Mili Méndez — Venezuelan-born bespoke cake artisan in Suffolk, working directly with single-estate Venezuelan cacao (Sur del Lago)
🌍 Bright Debrah Adjei — Ghanaian community development leader & cocoa-farming advocate (joining online)
🌿 Sabine Virani — Coordinator, Sustainable Food Norwich

We open with a live link to a cocoa forum in Venezuela, then explore:
• Lived Experience, History & Human Dignity
• Power, Policy & Industry Practices
• Building a Responsible Future

🎬 Reclaiming Cocoa — Film Screening + Live Q&A (after the Summit, same venue) 18:00
Stay on to watch Philippe’s documentary and join a live conversation with David and Lynn Lockwood (Join the Chocolution).
🎟 Screening tickets: https://eventbrite.pulse.ly/79rmvdcuua

💛 Your support matters: Donations at the Summit help cover costs and ensure cocoa-farming voices are present from the very start of this movement.

💬 Join the discussion about how we can come together as consumers to support cocoa-farming communities. What would you like to ask David about growing cocoa and life in Colombia?

17/10/2025

🌍 UN International Day for the Eradication of Poverty
Today, the world comes together to recognise the ongoing struggle to end poverty in all its forms.

The UN reminds us that poverty is not only about lack of income — it’s about being denied dignity, power, and the chance to be heard.
As Bright Debrah Adjei in Ghana told us:
“The families and children I work with are really excited about sharing their voices and being heard. They hope that chocolate eaters everywhere can help to change a system so they can lead better lives.”
That hope sits at the heart of Join the Chocolution and the Norwich Chocolate Festival Fortnight.

Next week’s Cocoa Summit (21 October, The Forum, Norwich) builds on this year’s UN theme — “Ending social and institutional maltreatment by ensuring respect and effective support for families.”

🎟️ Tickets: https://eventbrite.pulse.ly/wwbxm60p21

17/10/2025

🌍 From the mountains of Huila to the heart of Norwich 🍫✈️

After travelling for nearly 30 hours from his home in Huila, Colombia — by road, air, and rail — David Briceño has arrived in Norwich.
David is a third-generation cocoa farmer and agronomist, here to take part in every event of Norwich Chocolate Festival Fortnight with Join the Chocolution.

He’s not here to sell chocolate — he’s here to share his world.
To help us understand what it really takes to grow cocoa and what a responsible future for chocolate could look like — when we listen to those who grow it.

✨ As he begins his time in Norwich, we’d love to know:
What would you like to ask David about growing cocoa, life in Colombia, or the realities behind chocolate?

Add your questions in the comments below — he’s looking forward to hearing from the people of Norwich and Norfolk.
🍫 You can meet David throughout the festival — from the Launch Night (18 October) to the Cocoa Summit (21 October) and beyond.

05/10/2025

🍫 Norwich Chocolate Festival Fortnight 2025
18–30 October | Across Norwich
This is not a typical chocolate festival.
It’s the public launch of Join the Chocolution — a growing community movement that connects cocoa-growing families and chocolate lovers, creating space for listening, learning, and shared discovery.
Across two weeks of conversations, films, creative experiences, and collaborative events, we’ll explore how chocolate connects us — from pod to palate, from the people who grow cocoa to those who eat it.
This is about dignity, dialogue and respect.
About building understanding — and building community.
Join the Chocolution
🍫 Learn from cocoa-growing communities
💬 Share experiences and ideas
🌍 Be part of a movement for responsible chocolate
Full programme: https://jointhechocolution.pulse.ly/m8pnosiaeg