As the weather warms up and the sun begins to shine longer into the day, the itch to be outside grows stronger and stronger. Valparaiso Events hoped to scratch that itch as well as offer a bevy of local retailers to spend time with at this year’s Chocolate Walk this Saturday. With over 20 local businesses participating, the community was in for sweet treats and amazing deals.
“This time of year, people are just ready to get out and do things, enjoy the nice weather and the start of spring,” said Katie Abel, executive director at Valparaiso Events.
The Chocolate Walk is an annual event that lets the community visit participating locations for chocolate-related items and special deals for the day. It gives participants an opportunity to get out of the house, and it helps drive traffic to the many unique businesses in downtown Valparaiso.
“Supporting our local retailers and restaurants is very important to our community, and this event, in particular, does that,” said Abel. “We have 26 local stores and restaurants in downtown Valpo that are participating in the Chocolate Walk, so people buying tickets directly support those stores by getting business in their doors.”
The streets of downtown Valpo were flooded with teal bags as attendees drifted to local favorites like Blackbird Cafe, Ricochet Tacos, and Aftermath Cidery & Winery. It wasn’t just restaurants displaying their wares to the community today though. One stop on the Chocolate Walk was boutique Indie Indie Bang! Bang!
“It's a fun event,” said the Owner of Indie Indie Bang! Bang! Christopher Kish. “It gets people out visiting not only all the shops but all the restaurants. They get to hang out with their friends, but it's also a family-friendly event.”
While this year featured many fan favorites, several new retailers chose to participate in this year’s Chocolate Walk as a way to connect with the Valpo community. Allie Ispas and Meagan Miller, co-owners of the children’s boutique Pickles, were ecstatic with the community response to their shop.
“We love being a part of all the events downtown and just being a part of the community,” said Ispas. “We are a newer business – we've only been open since November – and we have been so welcomed by everybody. We all want to support each other and cheer each other on to be successful, and it feels great.”
A lot of organization is required to make an event like the Chocolate Walk successful, and it wouldn’t be possible without the dedication of the team at Valparaiso Events. Additionally, the Chocolate Walk’s sponsors play a big role in seeing the event's success.
“I'd like to definitely thank the sponsors for the event. HealthLinc is our platinum sponsor, and then Currie Motors Ford of Valpo and Terry's Discount Windows & More are also sponsors for the event,” said Abel. “Without our sponsors, we aren't able to do things that we do, so we're very grateful for them.”
HealthLinc, a federally-qualified health center, had a table providing free goodies and information about HealthLinc’s services. Outreach and Enrollment Coordinator Trish Poncher was happy to see many different faces at the Chocolate Walk.
“It's incredible,” said Poncher. “We were bombarded for a while there; we couldn't keep up with giving out our information and chocolate. Just being able to say that we're major sponsors is even better because we're bringing awareness to our clinic.”
At the end of the day, the people benefitting the most from the Chocolate Walk were the community members getting a chance to not only explore their own downtown but to build relationships with each other and the many retailers that make Valparaiso a gem of the Region.
“People are very excited and eager. It's good energy; they are glad to be here and excited about the day,” said Abel. “Thank you to all the different downtown stores and retailers that are participating. Without them and without what they do for our city, we wouldn't be able to make it happen.”
To learn more about Valparaiso Events or to get involved, visit valparaisoevents.com.