Chocolate cola, anyone? / Courtesy of MOSI
The Festival of Chocolate returns to MOSI this weekend, turning the whole museum into a feast for the senses.
From chocolate-inspired fashions to chocolate muffins, gelato, barbecue sauce, brownies and the Chocolate Irish Car Bomb, there’s plenty to tantalize the eyes — and the taste buds. But the real surprises might be the whoops and giggles of kids getting their hands dirty by whipping up chocolate Play-Doh or chocolate lip balm — and the undeniable aroma of all that cocoa.
“When the festival leaves, the chocolate smell does not necessarily go with it,” museum spokeswoman Megan Haskins said. “We do have a couple days of chocolate goodness throughout the museum. It does make you very hungry!”
This is the fifth time the Museum of Science and Industry at 4801 E. Fowler Ave. has hosted the festival, which ProFlowers named among the top 10 chocolate festivals nationwide. Its other stops in Orlando and Miami make it the state’s largest all-chocolate-themed event.
“It’s a great way for us to talk about science in a more relatable way,” Haskins said. “Kids immediately are drawn to candy and cookies and sweets. Kids are going to be able to calculate how old they are in chocolate. They’re going to be able to mix ingredients or chemicals, if you will, and create the outcome of chocolate. Our goal is to make science real, and this is a great way to do that, because everybody can relate to chocolate.”
I certainly can! Read more about how the museum created the world’s largest cup of hot chocolate at a previous festival, and what else to expect if you go, in today’s Tampa Tribune or online here.