Well it has to be said that the word on everybody’s lips this weekend in Barga is : cioccolata – chocolate. The fourth annual Barga Cioccolata event organised by Barga Events and the Comune of Barga is in full swing with chocolate makers from across Tuscany (and beyond) displaying their wares in the cantinas and small shops right through out Barga Vecchia.
Now expanded to cover four full days, 11 different chocolate makers were in the city. Even though the event has grown it has still managed to keep its mainly artisan feel with specialist chocolate manufacturers taking pride of place. Large manufacturers were not present, hopefully this will remain so in the future as well.
On Saturday in the Palazzo Pancrazi there was a prize giving ceremony for all of the children who took part in designing this year’s poster. The winner was Matteo Mimolla from the elementary school in Fornaci di barga. Shortly after everybody moved to the main gate in Barga Vecchia – Porta Reale for the traditional cutting of the tape to officially start Barga Cioccolata 2009.
During Saturday there were less than expected visitors to the event but all fears disappeared the following day when many thousands of people thronged through the narrow streets of Barga in search of that special chocolate taste.
As the sign outside the chocolate maker Caniparoli quite neatly put it – people are divided into two categories; those that like chocolate and those that don’t want to admit it.
Hm, I don’t think it was a word I saw on Gianni’s lips, in fact, it was more like it was written all over his face.