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    You are here: Home / Places to Visit / Italy / Sciocola – Modena’s Chocolate Festival

    Sciocola – Modena’s Chocolate Festival

    5 July 2020 - By Michelle Minnaar
    This post may contain affiliate links.

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    Listen up, chocolate aficionados! If your belly rules your mind, you must definitely put Sciocola, Modena’s Chocolate Festival, on your bucket list. Here’s why.

    Families walking in the streets of Modena during chocolate festival.

    The name Modena might ring a bell amongst salad lovers, having most probably seen the name on bottles whilst making a vinaigrette. Yes, this is the place where balsamic vinegar comes from.

    Modena's mayor cutting Sciocola's ribbon with other notable figures.

    Nestled in the Emilia-Romagna Region, Modena is slap bang in the middle of Italy’s foodie haven, where parmesan cheese and the famous Parma and San Daniele hams come from. To find out more, check out this article on things to do in Modena.

    A stall dedicated to the production of chocolate.

    Sciocola is an annual event started in 2018 as a way to promote Modena as a culinary destination and let the world know that the Italians take their chocolate just as seriously as the Swiss. It takes place in autumn and in 2020 it will be from 30 October to 1 November.

    Halved cocoa pods with raw nibs exposed.

    Overnight Pavarotti’s birthplace transforms from a laid back town to a hustling and bustling chocolate, belt tightening chocolate mega event. Its cobbled streets are dotted with over one hundred white canopied stalls, heaving with 15 tonnes of chocolate, catering for all tastebuds. In 2019 the event attracted over 100 000 visitors.

    Toasted chocolate nibs that are crushed with rolling pin.

    Best of all, the event is completely free of charge. Over the course of three days, you can simply step out of your hotel and visit the chocolate stalls as little or often as you like with no time constraint to ogle the multitude of creative offerings.

    There is one big stall where you learn everything there is to know about how chocolate is produced, which might inspire you to make your own!

    Chocolate Exhibitions at Sciocola

    The theme of 2019 was sport and a life-size F2004 Ferrari, made out of 20 quintals of chocolate, was on proud display – a tribute to Michael Schumacher 50th birthday.

    A F2004 Ferrari made out of chocolate.

    One can’t help but gawk at the patience and precision taken to recreate the Piazza Mateotti, Modena’s cathedral. Dubbed the “Chocolate Louvre”, it’s a chocolate masterpiece, which took a painstakingly long time to create by master chocolatier Stefano Comelli.

    Piazza Matteotti made out of chocolate.

    As you can see from the photos Sciocola is a family-friendly event, and no matter what the moody weather can get up to, the sheer amount of chocolate lightens up everyone’s mood.

    People visiting Modena's chocolate festival.

    For children, there are the cheap and cheerful molded stuff, from Peppa Pig to Halloween creations to mark the time of year.

    Chocolate moulded into famous cartoon characters.

    Since it’s so close to Christmas, items such as marrons glacés (glazed chestnuts) are available and other chocolate covered fruit.

    Marrons glace in a copper container.
    Chocolate covered cherries on copper display.

    Items such as chocolate salami are evergreen favourites with the young and old.

    Chocolate salami displayed at chocolate stall with two attendants.

    There are pralines and more different flavoured chocolate truffles you can poke a stick at and the sugar high will have you dancing to the music of street performers.

    An assortment of chocolate truffles.

    Last but not least, there is the top notch stuff with higher price points, which makes for the highlight of the trip. These are the creations of innovators who push boundaries with different flavour combinations that will make you savour every mouthful, wishing the taste will last even longer rather than sadly disappearing down your gullet.

    Lady holding box of chocolates at Sciocola chocolate event in Modena, Italy.

    Who would have thought to combine chocolate and parmesan cheese? Trust me, don’t knock it until you’ve tried it!

    Parmigiano Reggiano chocolate truffles.

    What was the best chocolate to be had at Sciocola? Why, the balsamic vinegar one, of course! The balance between the sweet and sour notes was perfect and left me wanting more and more.

    A lady in a red coat, holding a balsamic vinegar chocolate.

    For more information about this event, visit Sciocola’s website.

    More Italy

    • The 37 Best Foods To Try In Rome
    • The 22 Best Things To Do in Rome
    • 13 Things To Do in Modena
    • 18 Things To Do In Cefalu
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