Charity hot chocolate festival returns to Calgary for 2025

A stock photo of a woman holding hot chocolate. (Pexels/Kaboompics.com)

More than 130 different specialty hot chocolates will be sold throughout Calgary next month as part of an annual charitable competition dubbed YYC Hot Chocolate Fest.

The event sees cafés, coffee shops and restaurants sell innovative hot chocolates, some boozy and some not, for all of February.

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

- The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App

A portion of the sales from the specialty drinks is donated to Calgary Meals on Wheels.

Last year, YYC Hot Chocolate Fest saw more than 70,000 hot chocolates sold and more than $100,000 raised for the charity.

After the event wraps up, awards will be handed out.

Last year’s winners were:

Little Chief, which was the top-rated hot chocolate;

Hexagon Café, which had the best-selling hot chocolate;

Tops Pizza South, which had the top-rated spirited hot chocolate; and,

Telus Spark, which had the most creative hot chocolate.

To see the complete list of vendors participating this year, you can visit the YYC Hot Chocolate Fest website.

The event runs from Feb. 1 to 28.