Bariloche celebrates Easter between Easter eggs, tastings and a giant bar of chocolate

Bariloche, one of the most popular tourist destinations in Patagonia, is also the

due to its renowned artisanal production of sweets based on cocoa derivatives and that every year are the center of a popular festival where you can lick your fingers is etiquette.

Since 2012, every year for Easter, Bariloche, in Río Negro, makes

, both for the 30,000 tourists who usually visit this destination on those dates and for many of its 165,000 inhabitants.

If Bariloche is a good travel option due to its landscapes of snow-capped mountains and deep blue lakes, the

-which this year is held from

adds one more reason to visit the city at this time.

Master chocolatiers while they work on the elaboration of a huge chocolate bar.

Photo EFE/ Visit Argentina

"It's a massive party, with the addition that people can taste the chocolates we make," says Juan Carlos Carzalo, owner of Mamushka, one of the most traditional chocolate shops in Bariloche and a member of the city's Chamber of Chocolatiers who, together with the Municipality of San Carlos de Bariloche and the Government of Río Negro, organizes this celebration.

What can you see and do in Bariloche

To tell the truth, chocolates are a regional product characteristic of this destination and can be enjoyed all year round, but participating in this party has extra gratifications:

-this year it will be 215 meters long and two tons weight-,

with surprises (it is estimated that more than 12,000 eggs will be distributed),

and endless

in the heart of the city.

There the atmosphere literally smells of chocolate.

And the palate melts.

There is no way that your mouth will not water walking along the

, a tour of the most emblematic chocolate shops in the city -whose stained glass windows look like jewelry stores in which every detail around the star product is taken care of- that ends in the

, on the shores of Lake Nahuel Huapi.

Aerial view of Miter street during the Chocolate Festival, in the city of Bariloche.

Photo EFE/ Visit Argentina

Before that, you have to go through the chocolate arches, the obligatory tasting stop at the giant chocolate bar with abundant nuts and a visit to the

If until now you did not have an educated palate to taste a good chocolate, now you have the opportunity to graduate: the University of Chocolate is conceived as a circuit of activities to learn, playing, everything about chocolate -even art with chocolate!- and become "chocolate bachelor".

Who doesn't want that on their resume?

And all this without guilt, because good chocolate, as the party organizers point out, improves the mood, does the heart good and improves memory.

The Paseo del Chocolate, epicenter of the party.

Photo Tourism Bariloche

Artisanal chocolate and a bit of history

"There is no place in Argentina where more chocolate is sold than in Bariloche. Our chocolate is different, you cannot see it in the kiosks. It is not industrial chocolate but artisanal, it has a charge of emotion on the part of each one of our master chocolatiers and It's quite a tradition in Bariloche," says Carzalo.

began

in the mid-20th century, when Aldo Fenoglio, an immigrant from northern Italy, settled in the city and founded in 1948 the first chocolate factory in the city, Tronador -like the name of the highest hill high in the surroundings of Bariloche-.

Bariloche, national capital of chocolate.

Photo Tourism Bariloche

"An artisan tradition has been made, passing on from generation to generation, transmitting knowledge and deepening", highlights Carzalo, who gives an account of the many international awards that the master chocolatiers of Bariloche have won with their creations.

By the 1960s, chocolate became a hallmark of the city

, consolidating itself as the typical product that tourists take as a souvenir of their time in this beautiful destination, declared in 2015 "National Capital of Chocolate".

A dozen factories import cocoa beans from various countries to make their chocolate or make it from base chocolate, but there are many other small artisan producers who dedicate themselves to this art in Bariloche and its surroundings.

What are your favorite chocolates?

The favourites: the

, which melts in the mouth due to its soft texture, and the

-created in 1989 by Mamushka and today replicated by other manufacturers-, a sweet with thin layers that creates a sensation captivating in the mouth

Raw chocolate, among the favourites.

Photo Tourism Bariloche

But there are also more recent creations on the rise, like

and even

.

"Each of these festivities contributes to promoting our destination along with its gastronomy, spaces, local and regional products that attract visitors from all over the country and make us grow as a tourist destination," said Gastón Burlón, Secretary of Tourism of Bariloche.

The agenda

• Thursday, April 6

  : at 4:00 p.m. the Paseo del Chocolate will open.

  Also Friday and Saturday, until 20. 

• Friday 7, from 4 to 8 pm

  : the Casa del Conejo will be in the Civic Center to take pictures and greet him personally.

  And at 6:00 p.m. the giant chocolate bar will be prepared, which will then be distributed among the public.

  After 8 pm, shows and music at the Civic Center.

• Saturday 8

  : in La Baita, “Musical Chocolate Festival”, with the presentation of two children's shows, the first at 5 pm with “Las Magdalenas” and the second at 7 pm, with “Los Mellis en Concierto”.

  Free admission, but requires prior registration

• Sunday 9 at 5:00 p.m

  .: hot chocolate for everyone on the Paseo del Chocolate as the closing of the Festival.

Natalia Kidd / EFE and Clarín