Arvada’s set to get a little bit sweeter in February, as the 23rd Annual Chocolate Affair will take place in Olde Town on Feb. 4 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Attendees can purchase tasting tickets online at ralstonhouse.org — all proceeds from the event will benefit the local child advocacy nonprofit.
The event will see local retailers — including Enstrom Candies, Scrumptious, Rheinlander’s, Bread Winners Café and more — offering samples of chocolate confections ranging from baked goods to truffles to ice cream to toffee.
Each $1 ticket is good for one business’ sample. The event will also feature a Chocolate Bake Off cookie and brownie baking competition, pinwheel bouquets and lamp post hearts.
Lamp Post Hearts are handmade paper hearts with messages written on them that will be hung all around Olde Town from Feb. 4 to Feb. 14. The hearts are $25 and can be purchased on the Ralston House website.
Historic Olde Town Arvada (HOTA) has traditionally put on the event in conjunction with Ralston House. HOTA President Karen Miller said the event was started by a merchant in the 1990s.
“A Chocolate Affair was started by a merchant sometime in the '90s, back when Olde Town was pretty quiet and the merchants were dreaming up ideas of how to get people down here,” Miller said. “The merchant asked another to bake cookies or brownies at their store and put out a box for donations; they gave it to juvenile diabetes research.”
Miller said that the event’s attendance took a dip during COVID but has ramped up since. About a dozen Olde Town retailers will participate this year.
