The Alpine Chocolate Festival

During the winter holidays, the traditional Alpine Chocolate Festival is celebrated in the district of Villa General Belgrano in Córdoba. A tempting proposal to enjoy with the entire family.

Celebrations take place in the town hall, also known as the Alpine Hall. There, the chocolate masters display various stands with pastries, candies and chocolates, and invite visitors to taste the irresistible flavors of their handmade products.

One of the main attractions is watching confectioners as they make chocolate. At this party for taste, attendants may experience everything from the traditional blackwhite, sweetbitter, chocolate bars with nuts, almonds, raisins, peanut brittle and fruit to the traditional cup of hot chocolate, ideal to recover one's energies with the low winter temperatures.

Sitting comfortably at the tables, visitors enjoy a neatly organized artistic show mainly aimed at children. Music, dancing and typical orchestras Central-European countries give way to a carrousel of entertainment and games for children, in which parents have an active participation, as the purpose is that the entire family have a splendid time.
The most expected moment comes when the attendants dip their brochettes with nuts into a great copper pot full of hot chocolate.

As the delicacies of typical pastry-making are tasted, the various music and Central-European dances shows performed by the communites that have settled down in the mountain range district several years ago may be enjoyed. The celebrations finish when the Queen of Chocolate is elected.

Thus, Villa General Belgrano offers visitors the possibility of sharing, enjoying, laughing and resting within a beautiful mountain scenery.

A Sweet Story

In the early 1930s, the district of Villa General Belgrano began to welcome immigrants from various European nations. Swiss, Austrian, German and Italian immigrants, to mention a few, began to settle down in the area, bringing some of their cultural elements and traditions with them, in which gastronomy has occupied a fundamental position.
As time went by, these cultures' delicious recipes transcended the domestic framework and began to be used by facilities open to the public, such as tea houses and coffee-shops, thus allowing the development of handcrafting factories.

In the year 1985, a group of neighbors gathered up with the aim of creating a festival for the winter holidays and, as a result of the low temperatures typical of this time of the year, they decided that it was best to expect tourists with a cup of hot chocolate, thus giving shape to a dream that would shortly become true: the Chocolate Festival.

Due to the architectural features of the village, the word Alpine was added to the name of the festival.
That is how the “Alpine Chocolate Festival” began, whose purpose is to provide all the family with a season of joy, amusement and quietness and the possibility to enjoy a steaming cup of hot chocolate.
Time passed and that shy proposal of celebrating the winter through chocolate became a sweet custom and a real tradition at Villa General Belgrano.