About the festival
Chocolate Festival Radovljica
About the festival
Date of the next festival:
April 18 and 19, 2026
Are you a journalist? Read the press release.
The Radovljica Chocolate Festival is the largest chocolate event in Slovenia and the only true chocolate festival in the country. It has been held every April since 2012.
Radovljica is the largest town in the Radol’ca tourist destination. It earned its slogan, “Authentically Sweet,” in part due to its rich chocolate-making tradition, which has been carried on in Lesce since 1922. This is precisely why they began organizing the Chocolate Festival in the immediate vicinity.
The first festival took place on April 22, 2012, in the historic center of Radovljica. Even then, the organizer, the Radovljica Tourism Public Agency, hoped that the festival would become an annual event attracting visitors from Slovenia and abroad.
The festival aims to build recognition of Radol’ca as a destination for sweet experiences and to attract visitors from Slovenia and abroad to Radol’ca, while also promoting Slovenian chocolate shops. There are more of these in Slovenia every year; their products are made from high-quality ingredients, which often include an interesting combination of local ingredients with a story behind them. In this way, the Chocolate Festival fits seamlessly into the Slovenian gastronomic narrative and becomes part of the European Gastronomic Region.
The event takes place in the center of Radovljica. The first festival was held at Radovljica Manor; a year later, it expanded to Linhart Square, and two years after that, to Radovljica Park.
The central theme of the festival is chocolate. Visitors can sample chocolate treats from Slovenian and select foreign chocolatiers from Croatia, Italy, and Austria. Chocolate products are available for tasting—a process that has been conducted using tasting coupons since 2013—and products from the regular lineups of participating chocolatiers are also available for purchase.
A highlight of the festival is its extensive supporting program designed for all ages. The two-day event features culinary shows and workshops, concerts on the main stage and musical performances at other venues, children’s entertainment, sports challenges, street performances, creative workshops, and other fun activities. In addition to all this, the festival delights visitors each year with a special thematic focus. In 2012, visitors were thrilled by the chocolate cocktail show; in 2013, the first chocolate fashion show in Slovenia; in 2014, chocolate body painting; in 2016, a Guinness World Record was set at the festival with a giant chocolate sculpture; in 2017, visitors could test their luck on a chocolate roulette wheel; in 2019, Ruby chocolate was presented at the Ruby Bingo; in 2020, the festival was canceled due to the pandemic, and instead, the first virtual culinary festival in Slovenia was organized; In 2022, to mark its 100th anniversary, the Gorenjka chocolate factory prepared a special 100-kilogram chocolate bar for the festival; in 2023 and 2024, Radovljica Manor served as the venue for special chocolate-themed events .
In 2025, the festival was enlivened by a medieval funfair, and a new product was introduced: “Chocolate filled with certified Slovenian honey bearing a protected geographical indication, wrapped in biodegradable paper made from honey plant fibers, which can be planted after the chocolate is eaten.” The festival takes place every year on the second or third weekend in April.
Izbor za naj pralino Festivala čokolade
Čokoladnice, ki sodelujejo na Festivalu čokolade, lahko svoje izvirne izdelke prijavijo na tekmovanje za Naj pralino festivala. Izbor poteka vsako leto pred začetkom festivala, zmagovalne praline pa bomo objavili tukaj na tem spletnem mestu.
ZMAGOVALCI PRETEKLIH FESTIVALOV
2025
1. mesto: Berry Blaze (Molinet Hiša Čokolade)
2. mesto: Pistacija-Limona (Čokoladnica Lucifer)
3. mesto: Zlata Tequila s pomarančo (Čokoladni atelje Dobnik)
1. Mesto: Crunchy juzu (čokoladnica Lucifer)
2. Mesto: Mak & malina (čokoladnica Rajska ptica)
3. Mesto: Tepka (TIC Vrhnika/Rajska ptica)
1.mesto: Snickers (Hiša čokolade Molinet)
2.mesto: Kozja izbira dobra izbira (Radolška čokolada)
3.mesto: Juzu in poper (Aska)
1.mesto: Bio ajdova hrustljava pralina (Radolška čokolada)
2.mesto: Strastna pasijonka (Bon Bon Čokoladni Atelje) in Pralina Olivija (Čokoladnica Lucifer)
3.mesto: Bananin piškotek (Bon Bon Čokoladni Atelje) in Karamela z okusom zaseke (Čokoladnica Molinet)
Med pralinami so se na prva tri mesta uvrstile:
1.mesto: pralina Green fusion (Tramontana)
2.mesto: pralina Bitter Sweet Symphony (Lucifer)
3.mesto: pralina Ajdov cvet (Passero)
Najboljše tri čokoladne tablice pa so:
1.mesto: Tablica z refoškom (Tramontana)
2.mesto: Polnjena tablica Satisfaction (Lucifer)
3.mesto: Temna čokolada malina koriander (Passero)
Med pralinami so se na prva tri mesta uvrstile:
1.mesto: pralina Green fusion (Tramontana)
2.mesto: pralina Bitter Sweet Symphony (Lucifer)
3.mesto: pralina Ajdov cvet (Passero)
Najboljše tri čokoladne tablice pa so:
1.mesto: Tablica z refoškom (Tramontana)
2.mesto: Polnjena tablica Satisfaction (Lucifer)
3.mesto: Temna čokolada malina koriander (Passero)
1.pralina CHERISH THE LIFE, čokoladnica Lucifer
2.pralina z BUČNIMI SEMENI, čokoladnica Passero
3.pralina HRUŠKA, čokoladnica Tramontana
Zgodovina festivala
Prvi festival čokolade je v Radovljici potekal 22. aprila 2012 in je bil tudi prvi festival čokolade v Sloveniji.
Na prvem festivalu 22. aprila 2012 so se predstavile čokoladnice iz vse Slovenije: tovarna čokolade Gorenjka, Čokoladnica Rajska ptica, Čokoladnica Cukrček, Čokoladnica Da Ponte, Čokoladnica Lucifer, Čokoladnica Molinet, Čokoladnica Plešec in Podeželska čokoladnica Passero. Odvijali so se kulinarični šovi ter program za otroke.
Festival je potekal le en dan, obisk pa je bil neverjeten in je presenetil tako razstavljavce kot tudi organizatorje.
Ob dvajsetih ponudnikih čokoladnih sladic, ki so se predstavljali na Linhartovem trgu in v Radovljiški graščini, je potekal pester spremljevalni program. Prodanih je bilo preko 40.000 degustacijskih kuponov, organizator prireditve, Turizem Radovljica, pa je ocenil, da je v dveh dneh festival obiskalo več kot 20.000 obiskovalcev iz Slovenije in tujine. Posebnost v programu je bila čokoladna modna revija v izvedbi domačinke Petje Zorec in čokoladnice Rajska ptica.
Festival je obiskalo blizu 40.000 obiskovalcev. Novost v programu je bil čokoladni body-painting, za ponudbo ne-čokoladnih jedi pa so poskrbeli domači gostinci, združeni v projektu Okusi Radol’ce.
Festival je potekal med 17. in 19. aprilom, predstavljalo pa se je preko 40 ponudnikov čokoladnih sladic, med njimi tudi nekaj iz tujine. Nov festivalski dan je bil petek popoldan, nova lokacija pa nekdanji baročni park tik ob starem mestnem jedru. Obe novosti sta bili dobro sprejeti. Festival je po grobih ocenah obiskalo preko 50.000 obiskovalcev.
5. festival so zaznamovali rekordi. Na Vurnikovem trgu je čokoladnica Cukrček izdelala čokolado velikanko, ki se je s kar 142,32 kvadratnimi metri površine vpisala v Guinessovo knjigo rekordov kot navječja tablica čokolade. Čokolada je tehtala tono in pol. Drugi rekord je prinesel zares številen obisk, saj naj bi Radovljico obiskalo okrog 60.000 obiskovalcev, razstavljalcev pa je bilo 46.
Na 6. festivalu čokolade se je oblikoval pester čokoladen program na Vurnikovem trgu, kjer so obiskovalci poskušali srečo na čokoladni ruleti, si ogledovali nastajanje čokoladnih slik in čokoladnih skulptur ter v tovarni čokoladi videli, kako nastaja čokolada. Trije festivalski dnevi so postregli s pestrim programom in bogato ponudbo čokolade in čokoladnih jedi.
Na 7. festivalu čokolade se je kot posebna zanimviost predstavila Hiša ekperimentov, v kateri so otroci lahko spoznali in tudi sami izdelali čokolado iz kakavovega zrna. Izbrali smo naj pralino festivala, za boljši potek prireditve pa smo zaprli cesto med Vurnikovim trgom in parkom.
Leta 2019 je svoj boom doživela ruby čokolada. Na festivalu smo jo predstavili na čokoladnem bingu, novi nagradni igri, ki je nadomestila čokoladno ruleto. Novost v programu je bil spust po jeklenici ter otroške kulinarične delavnice z dijaki Srednje gostinsko turistične šole Radovljica.
Zaradi epidemije je v letu 2020 festival v Radovljici odpadel, med 24. in 30. aprilom 2020 pa je na spletu potekal 1. virtualni kulinarični festival v Sloveniji. Sodelovalo je 11 ponudnikov čokolade, ki so v v času virtualnega festivala svoje dobrote ponudili v spletnih prodajalnah ter nekateri dodali tudi izvrstne akcijske popuste. Vseh 11 čokoladnic je stalnih partnerjev vsakoletnega radovljiškega Festivala čokolade.
Tovarna čokolade Gorenjka je ob svoji 100. obletnici za festival Čokolade pripravila posebno 100 kilogramsko čokolado.
Radovljiška graščina je postala mesto posebnih čokoladnih doživetij
2025
Najmlajše obiskovalce je na trgu pred cerkvijo razveselil Srednjeveški lunapark, ki je s svojimi atrakcijami in interaktivnimi vsebinami poskrbel za nepozabno zabavo. S partnerjem dogodka Čebelarsko zvezo Slovenije smo razvili edinstveno čokoladno tablico s polnilom iz certificiranega slovenskega medu z zaščiteno geografsko označbo. Tablica pa ni posebna le po svoji vsebini, temveč tudi po trajnostni embalaži – namesto klasičnega papirja je ovita v papir s semeni. Ta papir uporabnik po uporabi posadi v zemljo, kjer se razgradi, iz semen v papirju pa zrastejo cvetlice.
Chocolate and Radol'ca
From Slovenia’s largest chocolate factory to family-run chocolatiers with handmade pralines and
chocolates.
In 1922, Adolf Zavrtanik, a Slovene from Solkan, founded the family company
in Lesce to make chocolate. His principle was high quality, which he guaranteed with the best
raw materials. After the Second World War, the factory was nationalised by the authorities and in 1948 the company
Gorenjka Chocolate Factory was founded. Ten years later, the company was renamed Gorenjka, factory
of chocolate Lesce and this was the beginning of the Gorenjka brand. A brand that is still synonymous with
chocolate with whole hazelnuts.
Gorenjka, which is still made in Lesce despite foreign ownership, is not the only chocolate production in
Radol’ci. The family-run Molinet Chocolate House has been operating in Lipnica pri Kropa for many years, and from the end of
2021 a new boutique chocolate shop will open its doors in Radovljica, right next to Linhart Square,
Radolska chocolate. Both chocolatiers are distinguished by their top-quality chocolate products.
You can also buy products from local chocolatiers at the Radovljica TIC.
