After 30 years, the Oakdale Chocolate Festival is no more.
The city’s Chamber of Commerce, which has put on the festival the past several years, postponed the event last year and has since decided to cancel it for good.
“The Oakdale Chamber of Commerce has agreed to a strategic transition from large-scale event planning to a resource-based organizational focus,” reads an emailed statement from chamber CEO Cher Bairos. “As part of this shift, we have decided to discontinue hosting the Oakdale Chocolate Festival, aligning with our commitment to better serve our members and community through enhanced resource allocation and support initiatives.”
Last year, the chamber told The Bee the event would be postponed from its regular May spot, possibly moved to the fall. But it never returned in 2023.
The chamber did hold an Oakdale Fall Festival last year to support downtown businesses, Bairos said, but it was not a replacement for the chocolate festival.
Bairos said that the chamber sent out a public survey and about 900 people responded. Responses included those questioning why a chocolate festival should be held with Hershey long gone and with not as much chocolate available at the event, she said.