EuroChocolate is an annual chocolate

Chocolate

Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC...

 festival that takes place in Perugia

Perugia

Perugia is the capital city of the region of Umbria in central Italy, near the River Tiber, and the capital of the province of Perugia. The city is located about north of Rome. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area....

, the capital of the Umbria

Umbria

Umbria is a region of modern central Italy. It is one of the smallest Italian regions and the only peninsular region that is landlocked.Its capital is Perugia.Assisi and Norcia are historical towns associated with St. Francis of Assisi, and St...

 region in central Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

. The festival has been held since 1993 and is one of the largest chocolate festivals in Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

. EuroChocolate draws nearly one million tourists and Italian natives each year. It lasts for nine days and is located in the squares and areas of Piazza Italia, Piazza della Repubblica, Corso Vannucci, Via Mazzini, Via Fani, The Terrace of the Covered Market, and Piazza IV Novembre.

Italy's most well-known chocolate company Perugina

Perugina

Perugina is an Italian confectionery company based in Perugia, Italy.The company was formed in 1907 by Giovanni Buitoni and Luisa Spagnoli, a confectioner in her own right, in the town of Perugia, in central Italy....

 (now belonging to Nestlé), known for their Baci

Baci

Baci is an important ceremony practiced in Lao culture and Northern and Isan Thai culture....

, is represented along with a number of other brands such as Lindt and Caffarel

Caffarel

Caffarel is a chocolate manufacturing company with a long history, currently based at Luserna San Giovanni, Italy. It is now a subsidiary of Lindt & Sprüngli.-References:* - investor information, list of subsidiaries....

. EuroChocolate offers many snack and souvenir options such as chocolate covered bananas, chocolate liqueur, chocolate molds, and chocolate bricks.

EuroChocolate offers a variety of activities including chocolate art displays, experimental chocolate tastings, street performances, and chocolate sculpting. In recent years, an igloo has been constructed out of 3,600 kilograms of chocolate bricks. There is even an opportunity to make a chocolate day spa appointment. In 2003, the largest chocolate bar in the world was constructed. It measured to be more than 7 meters in length, two meters high and made with 5980 kilograms of dark chocolate and thousands of hazelnuts.

EuroChocolate has extended to other Italian cities such as Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

 and Turin

Turin

Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...

.