The 9th annual Tampa Bay Chocolate Festival is happening during Valentine's Day weekend

The ideal event for both dessert-lovers and folks celebrating Valentine’s Day, the 9th annual Tampa Bay Chocolate Festival returns to Egypt Shriners at 5017 E Washington St., just north of the Hillsborough River near the Dixie Farms neighborhood, on Saturday, Feb. 12.

There will be a variety of food trucks participating at this event—dessert-forward vendors like Hampton Chocolate Factory, Mini Mouthful Donuts and Mad Beach Chocolates will post up alongside savory eateries like Masarap Bowls Filipino Food Truck, Jimmy Bodean’s BBQ, Tacos Y Snacks El Indio, and Hott Mess. There will also be a variety of frozen treats and beverages to choose from as well—with food trucks specializing in both.

The entire festival runs from 1 p.m.-9 p.m., and both entry and parking are free.
It will be interesting to see how non-dessert food trucks incorporate chocolate into their menus—it's a requirement of the Tampa Bay Chocolate Festival that all food vendors stick to a chocolate theme. All savory trucks will serve dishes from their regular menu, but will boast at least one exclusive chocolate-based creation.

Non-food vendors include Mural Me Studio Plus, Florida Cannabis Supply's "Toke Trailer "(definitely a good idea at a chocolate festival,) Jill’s Custom Candles & Soap and Tampa Candle Co., alongside others.

For the entire list of Tampa Bay Chocolate Festival vendors, check out @generationentertainmentflorida on Facebook.

And according to that event page, there will also be live entertainment featured at the festival, although there’s no details about the specific lineup. Make sure you remember where you parked your car—because this event is estimated to draw over 5,000 attendees.

Generation Entertainment Florida, the organizers of next weekend’s event, have hosted a variety of different foodie events throughout the Bay, including Tampa’s Food Truck Rally, Taste of Asia Fest 2021 and Tampa Bay Grilled Cheese & Brews Fest.